Myths that people use to scare us. Overpopulation

Phase 1) ‘What could it hurt?’: China implements one-child policy
Phase 2) ‘How were we supposed to know?’: China runs out of workers

Attention West! Your turn is coming as even Slate has finally figured out. So those of you enthusiasts for birth control worried about “overpopulation” should really familiarize yourself with reality. The first reality is this:



The second reality is that, as you age and become an expensive burden to the rising generation, you will have abundant opportunity to think globally and act locally–or rather be acted upon locally–by becoming an unwilling recruit in the Human Extinction Movement, courtesy of government and health care bean counters who will be comfy with snuffing you when the cost/benefit analyses are not longer in favor of you being alive. I’m giving myself about a 50/50 chance of dying naturally. Odds are pretty good that if I live long enough to require elder care, somebody from the hospital staff going to slip something in my IV to make life easier on the hospital accounting department.

Thanks Mark Shea.

Origins of Planned Parenthood (aka Murder Inc.)

Original by Tiffany Gabbay

There are few chapters in history more bereft of humanity than the Holocaust, where Adolf Hitler sought to implement his “final solution” by way of mass genocide. What most do not realize, however, is that Eugenics, as a social movement and scientific application, was actually part of the American landscape long before it reached Germany.

In fact, American academia’s advocacy, and later the country’s use of genetic manipulation to purge society of its “undesirables” inspired the fuhrer.

In practice, Eugenicists’ first order of business in the late 18th and early 19th century was to identify society’s “degenerates.” Those deemed undesirable ranged from the mentally ill, handicapped, and the physically disabled (this included the blind and deaf), to the poor and uneducated, promiscuous women, homosexuals and certain racial groups — particularly Jews and blacks.

Once the unfit groups were sufficiently identified, institutionalization and euthanasia were two Eugenics-driven approaches to “solve the problem.” Advocates of the practice marketed it as a humane way to end suffering and ensure a fit and “healthy” society prevailed.

While even Alexander Graham Bell and Leonard Darwin (Charles Darwin’s son) sat on the earliest International Congress of Eugenics in 1912, it was Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich’s adoption of the practice that took this dark art and plunged it into unspeakable depths of depravity and barbarism.

Hitlers’ was the most “successful” Eugenics campaign to date, and began with something as rudimentary as a ”caliper” test to assess the broadness of one’s nose. To the Nazis, broad-noses equated to ethnic “inferiority” — in other words: ”life unworthy of life.” That sum comprised 6 million Jews, nearly 3 million Poles, an estimated 1 million Romany-gypsies, 15,000 homosexuals, at least 300,000 institutionalized disabled men, women and children and 400,000 more who were spared only to be forcibly sterilized.

Others erased from existence were Africans who had been brought to Germany by the French during the Allied occupation in World War I — many of whom married German women and produced what Hitler called the “Rhineland Bastards.”

The fuhrer laid out his plan in Mein Kampf, stating he would eliminate these “insults” on the German nation. Under the stewardship of Dr. Eugen Fischer, a group called “Commission Number 3″ was created to organize the forced sterilization of the Rhineland Bastards through Germany’s  ”Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring.”

Throughout their crusade, the Nazis showed neither remorse nor mercy, and always presented their ethnic cleansing, just as the Americans had done before them, as a means for good. By ridding Germans of the societal, financial and, ultimately, genetic burden of the “undesirable,” and by ridding the undesirables of their “miserable” existence, the Germans maintained that theirs was actually an act of virtue.

Far from the shores of the Rhineland and some years prior to the Holocaust, however, Eugenics advocate Woodrow Wilson signed into law a sterilization act, and the following year Theodore Roosevelt wrote of the need to improve “racial qualities.” Even Calvin Coolidge, along with author Arthur Calhoun, acknowledged the role Eugenic-driven procreation would play “in the new social order.”

In “The Dark Roots of Eugenics,” Dr. Dennis L. Cuddy wrote that philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie and the Rockefeller family all financially buoyed the movement, and in the early 20th century John D. Rockefeller himself introduced Margaret Sanger – the founder of Planned Parenthood — to the rainmakers who would bankroll her Birth Control League.

Initially, this organization was not designed so much to empower women but as a vehicle for propping up the practice of Eugenics. Sanger was a staunch admirer of the Nazis, often incorporating articles from Nazi-doctors into her monthly publication, “The Birth Control Review.”  Her own article, “A Race of Thoroughbreds,” offered sweeping praise of Eugenics and strongly condemned a society where the inferior were allowed to dwell.

In the end, through compulsory laws, some 60,000 people were sterilized in the U.S., rendering untold  generations extinguished from future existence.

One author who has written extensively on this dark chapter in America history is Edwin Black, who appeared on Monday evening’s Glenn Beck Program to discuss the twisted practice and why he believes it could be poised to rear its ugly head once more. Black, whose parents were Holocaust survivors, also explained how Hitler was inspired by the Americans in this disturbing arena.

America’s drone wars are not creating a safer world | CatholicHerald.co.uk

America’s drone wars are not creating a safer world | CatholicHerald.co.uk
"Researchers at the Stanford Law School and New York University’s School of Law estimated that from June 2004 to mid-September 2012 drone attacks in Pakistan killed 2,593 to 3,365 people; 474 to 884 were civilians, including at least 176 children, and 1,249 to 1,389 people were injured"

Obamacare is about revenue?

How much money does the Government need?  More then it has...

You see no matter how much money you send, they will spend more.  If your a president stuck with a Congress that tightens the purse strings, you could run a surplus.  If your a President who increases the size of Government with a willing Congress.  Then then you have a debit ceiling limit that should cost representatives their jobs if they vote to increase.

If your fiscally irresponsible you raise that limit on a whim, crank up the spending, and never speak about things like 'budgets' even if they are legally required.  After all the Government should not be bound by things like laws and the Constitution or Rights.  These outdated concepts just get in the way...

So word is out on Obamacare.  If your a family of five on the lower end of the pay scale and do not have insurance you will pony up $ 20,000.00 a year or face a tax of $ 2,400.00.

You get that?  20k or 2400.00 tax.  What does that tax get you?  Less money for you more for the Government.  Yup, it is just a garnishment of wages with nothing to show.

If your one of the 15 to 18 States that will have one of the exchanges set up, you may be able to purchase insurance at Government controlled prices ($ 20,000.00) sometime in October for Jan 1, 2014.  So far no State is ready, so be prepared for a bureaucratic mess of Biblical proportions.

You may be included in Medi-whatever, in which case, good luck finding a Doctor that will accept you.

What a mess.

Jobs in the USA and Government Obfuscation

Lets check out the Main Stream Media's latest stories about the job market:

AP
AP
AP
Bloomberg
Reuters
CNBC
NYT

Somehow none of these sources reported that employment declined in January 2013.  Which amount to around 2.84 million.  Note the phrase "Seasonal adjustment" is not used.  Yes, that is odd...

The unemployment rate is 8.5 percent in January.  Which is only .03 below January 2012..

So what is the real scoop?

• Overall: 157K SA, -2.84 million NSA; January's actual job loss was worse than the 2.635 million seen in January 2012 which generated a 311K seasonally adjusted result. This looks like deterioration to me, not improvement. It also appears, looking at the three preceding years, that January's 157K SA figure could easily and justifiably been as low as 100K.
  
• Private sector: +166K SA, -2.345 million NSA; again much worse than the -2.155 million seen in January 2012, and again with the seasonally adjusted number arguably overstated by 50K or more.
  
• Health care: +23K SA, -57K NSA; the actual decline in January 2012 was far less (-36K), perhaps indicating that health care employment averaged over 12 months might be close to hitting a plateau.
  
• Retail: +33K SA, -592K NSA; in this 2013's actual decline is worse than each of the past three years by 19K-32K. If retail stops adding people over time, look out below.
  
• Construction: +28K SA, -272K NSA; this one's a real head-scratcher as to why we should be impressed. Contstruction employment is just over 100,000 greater than it was a year ago, and (seasonally adjusted) is still over (23 percent) below its January 2008 value of peak of 7.476 million. At that rate, it will take about 15 years for construction employment to get back to where it was.
  
• Manufacturing: +4K SA, -90K NSA; the NSA number is worse than both 2012 (-65K) and 2011 (-80K). In the past 12 months, seasonally adjusted manufacturing employment is up by 109K, or just under 1 percent.

Let's just say that the MSM does not understand the difference between raw and seasonally adjusted figures.  After all it isn't like their jobs depend upon that...

Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth

Another reason to homeschool...

Crossroads

My life is not being what I want it to be.  Although, I am not quite sure what I thought it would be, just not this.

Don't get me wrong, I have the greatest wife\best friend\soul mate ever.  My eldest son has a remarkable capacity to become and expert on interests he pursues. My Daughter is singularly amazing in her ability to accomplish goals both long term and short term.  Connor is both a joy and challenge who provides so much wonder in our lives.

Until last November I was in an amazingly happy place.  I had a job with huge potential, we were digging our way out of debt.  We had plans and goals for our house, home and community.  It turned out to be rather fragile.  In a confrontation not of my making I acted in a manner of which I am not proud. This single span of 90 seconds came with the cost of my life path.

I could wax philosophical as there are new opportunities and God has plans that are not seen by mortals.  Still, the loss and grief is substantial.  At times I just want to be someone else.

So we are not looking towards liquidation of our worldly possessions, moving to another place and time with a fresh start.  Not really where I thought I would be.

There was a funny bit from a movie in my youth, where the comic goes through the stages of grief.  Anger, denial, bargaining, depression, acceptance.  You'll note that happiness isn't in that grouping.

A quick thought.

I'm not saying that nobody should have access to vaginas, just that there should be a background check and a 7 day waiting period to keep them away from the mentally ill at least. 

Reality Check: An "Apples to Apples" Comparison of U.S. and U.K. Violent Crime Rates

Reality Check: An "Apples to Apples" Comparison of U.S. and U.K. Violent Crime Rates: Ben's fact check of arguments made by CNN host Piers Morgan and a look at the violent crime rates in the U.S. and U.K. But were those numbers really an apples to apples comparison? Tonight, Ben is setting the record straight and asking if the concern is really about lowing gun death rates then why aren’t pro gun control advocates going after handguns?

Government is okay in its place...

I'm a kid back in the 60's.  Our class it handing out some nutritional advice, about the four basic food groups.  I notice the breakfast cereal commercials end with "part of this complete breakfast."  My mom's  magazines have more food on the covers with warnings and advice.

The days of nutritional politics has begun...

My class has us do a report about the four food groups.  We have paper plates we glue stuff on to show how well we understand the nutritional guidelines.  At some point I look the food groups up in my beloved World Book Encyclopedia, and the list shows

1. Milk and milk products
2. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, peas and nuts
3. Bread, flour and cereals
4. Leafy green and yellow vegetables
5. Potatoes and sweet potatoes
6. Citrus, tomato, cabbage, salad greens
7. Butter, fortified margarine

Which is a better breakdown then:

1. Milk
2. Meat
3. Fruits and vegetables
4. Grain products

This all but leaves my brain shortly after the assignment is finished.  Flash forward to the 90's.  I hear a gentleman on the radio talking about foods, humans, health and wellness and opt to get his book.  I read it and turn vegan.  Part of the book tells about the political influence various industries have had on the nutritional guides.

It turns out that the government has a curious notion of what expert means.  It turns out that influence and power has more to do with our elected officials then the best data out there.  There are a lot of nutritional quacks out there. Over the years wellness has been diverted by profit and greed.  The diet industry makes lots of money off of scare and envy tactics.

There are lots of expose' on these various corrupted examples as well.

A Fatally Flawed Food Guide
In the face of contradictory evidence: Report of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee
USDA Food Pyramid History

Over the course of my life I have deduced, what I feel are, healthy choices for my family.  I do not really sweat the small stuff.  The human body has amazing nutrient gathering ability.  We should have a focus on fitness over diet. As I get older I have been keeping fitter and trim.  Because, I want to be able to do things.  I do miss those golden days of yore when I could eat all I wanted and be assured of burning it off. I also miss days of not being sore, stiff and creaky.  Yet, I can run further and better then I ever could.  Go figure...

This guy understands.

The second amendment wasn't thought through...

Today our President is going to propose limits on our Liberty. I predict the press will fawn and slobber all over.  The left will complain that it is not enough and the right, well look at the above.

Just in case you do not know your constitution: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

To get an idea on what the founding fathers exactly meant:

"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials."
— George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on Ratification of the Constitution, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788



"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."
-- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188


If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government, and which against the usurpations of the national rulers may be exerted with infinitely better prospect of success than against those of the rulers of an individual State. In a single State, if the persons entrusted with supreme power become usurpers, the different parcels, subdivisions, or districts of which it consists, having no distinct government in each, can take no regular measures for defense. The citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair.
-- Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 28



"That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms ... "
-- Samuel Adams, Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at 86-87 (Pierce & Hale, eds., Boston, 1850)


"[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
--James Madison, The Federalist Papers, No. 46


"To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, countries or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man; it is a dissolution of the government. The fundamental law of the militia is, that it be created, directed and commanded by the laws, and ever for the support of the laws."
--John Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States 475 (1787-1788)


"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive."
--Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia 1787).


"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American...[T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people."
--Tenche Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.


"Whereas, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them; nor does it follow from this, that all promiscuously must go into actual service on every occasion. The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle; and when we see many men disposed to practice upon it, whenever they can prevail, no wonder true republicans are for carefully guarding against it."
--Richard Henry Lee, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.


"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787. ME 6:373, Papers 12:356


"No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Proposal Virginia Constitution, 1 T. Jefferson Papers, 334,[C.J. Boyd, Ed., 1950]


"The right of the people to keep and bear ... arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country ..."
-- James Madison, I Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789


"What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty .... Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins."
-- Rep. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, spoken during floor debate over the Second Amendment, I Annals of Congress at 750, August 17, 1789



" ... but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formidable to the liberties of the people, while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights ..."
-- Alexander Hamilton speaking of standing armies in Federalist 29

Because life is cheap...?

There is an extreme disconnect in regards to life. Somehow when sperm hits egg, there is a question of letting the child live.  This question tends to be more applicable when it occurred at some teenage bacchanal.  Less so when you are a married couple pursuing procreation.

This list of reasons to kill a baby are long.  Going from punishment, to the life of mother and child.  It strikes me, that relegating intercourse to the bonds of marriage eliminates a good chunk of the debate.

However, we are told it is naive to think that kids will not engage in sex, and we should teach them how and to use proper protection. Sex is such a closed topic as well.  Even with the hedonism we have from entertainment, the focus is spun so far from reality.

Relying on the Government to teach and regulate sex is tantamount to abuse.  There has to be a moral sense of responsibility for actions (something that has been universally condemned).

The last days of the USA

hose who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~ B. Franklin

As I was going through the various news feeds, this caught my attention: NZ leads worldwide in human freedom 

While I was looking for the source of that headline I ran across this: Forbes ranks New Zealand at top of ‘Best Countries for Business’ list Which lead me to the source Forbes itself.  There is a handy slideshow that puts The USA at number 12 (Canada is number 5).

This got me recalling when the USA was exceptional. Something which our elected leader has deemed farcical. In my own recollection there was an overall depression I felt during the Carter administration.  It felt grey, the misery index caught that overall feeling.  We had a resurgence of exceptional ism with Reagan, which waned as "No new taxes" fell to the left. There was a better feeling with Clinton, despite his short comings.  Next was a horrible time for our country with some small tragic tinged silver linings as we rallied together.

It all seems so long ago.  We spend way past our means.  We send robots to kill children.  We blame objects for peoples actions. We vilify groups the name of Tolerance.   We confuse rights with responsibility.
We are being pushed away from belief in God by fundamentalist Atheists and fundamentalist Christians alike.We are being lied too about science and being told to shut up when pointing out the lies.  Our information is vast and spun and filtered down to nonsensical sound bites.

American politics often seems to boil down to the same two groups of enemies shouting “My rights!” “Dead children!” and then switching sides depending on whose ox is being gored. Sometimes, to spice things up, they switch to calling each other Hitler.


And we pride ourselves on being far more rational than those stupid medieval who held philosophical disputations. Then we go and watch “Are Ancient Astronauts Being Channeled by Psychics?” specials on the History Channel.

I look at Dubai and feel the USA should be at the forefront of engineering and architecture.  Yet, we are punishing those who succeed and glorifying those who settle.

Popular vote shows me, this is what we want from our nation.  Although, part of me hopes we can see the wrongness of the course we have set.

As it is, it takes my every iota to muster hope that we are not in the sunset.

Example of the Man Made Global Warming lie.

The New York Times:   Not Even Close: 2012 Was Hottest Ever in U.S.

The Los Angeles Times:  2012 was hottest year on record for Lower 48 states

The Washington Post:  2012 hottest year on record in contiguous U.S., NOAA says

Reuters:  2012 was hottest year on record in U.S., climate agency says

The source (or climate agency) that this  "Hottest Ever" story is based is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

We now find via Anthony Watts' intensive research, the NCDC has been keeping two sets of data: one for public consumption and the other the actual stats.


"First, I should point out that I didn’t go looking for this problem, it was a serendipitous discovery that came from me looking up the month-to-month average temperature for the CONtiguous United States (CONUS) for another project which you’ll see a report on in a couple of days. What started as an oddity noted for a single month now seems clearly to be systemic over a two-year period. On the eve of what will likely be a pronouncement from NCDC on 2012 being the “hottest year ever”, and since what I found is systemic and very influential to the press and to the public, I thought I should make my findings widely known now. Everything I’ve found should be replicable independently using the links and examples I provide. I’m writing the article as a timeline of discovery.

At issue is the difference between temperature data claims in the NCDC State of the Climate reports issued monthly and at year-end and the official NCDC climate database made available to the public. Please read on for my full investigation."

Why have two sets of Data?  Makes me wonder.

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!

Waiting

Waiting is an art, a skill if you will.

Elmo voice is a pedophile...

SOURCE

Kevin Clash -- the voice of Elmo -- agreed to pay his accuser $125,000, with one string attached -- that the accuser recant his story that Clash had sex with him when he was a minor ... TMZ has learned.

...We've learned although Stephens signed the document, he continues to insist Clash had sex with him when he was a minor and was pressured into signing the settlement.

One source privy to the negotiations tells TMZ ... Stephens was crying during final negotiations and repeatedly insisted he didn't want to sign.

Who killed Twinkie

The left side of the Twinkie

Interesting reading.

http://www.ObamaVoterFraud.com/

For me this could just be bitter postings.  However, voter fraud should be investigated at the highest level.

We the Stupid move Forward

Now that we are a progressive nation.  We look forward to our President who in his own words: "I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil."

What is next up?  Aside from Massive layoffs?

We have a massive tax increase coming. This 500 billion dollar bill comes due and may hit us with a new and improved recession!

The defense of our nation will be taking quite a hit as well.  Which liberals call a war fund, Conservatives call Defense.  I see this as a prime bargaining chip for raising taxes.

That pesky Iran and it's Peaceful Nuclear proliferation.  Along with Israel's wondering if the President does consider them an allies. In fact the middle east is less then relatable...

We also have that less then Optimal Benghazi problem.  Which may be okay, seeing as the 4th estate has been on top of this... NOT.

Let us not forget Obamacare....

Can we all agree, at this time forward that Our President bears responsibility for his leadership?

We Americans are the stupidest nation on earth.

And now we have proof.

Stossel Indians

It is not a hard reach to see the entire US looking like this.

Benghazi blunder: Obama unworthy commander-in-chief - Opinion - ReviewJournal.com

Benghazi blunder: Obama unworthy commander-in-chief - Opinion - ReviewJournal.com

Cato putting Man Made Global warming into perspective.

Source:


It is clear that any unilateral US policy will have absolutely no detectable effect on the trajectory of planetary warming.  This even applies to the 83% reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that were required in legislation that  passed the House of Representatives in June, 2009.  Further, if these regulations were enacted—and followed—by every nation that has obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, there would still be no detectable effect on global temperature at the half-century scale.  In coming decades, the enormous emissions of China and India will dwarf anything from the US or industrialized western Europe, making our actions climatically nugatory. Fortunately, there is strong evidence throughout this volume that climate change will not be as rapid or of the magnitude forecast by the aggregate computer models used in the USGCRP 
report.  In addition, there is strong evidence for successful adaptation to observed climate change which includes climate change-related profits.  This can be expected to continue as long as our economy is free and not stifled by completely ineffective


Climate change assessments such as the one produced by the  USGCRP suffer from a systematic bias due to  the fact that the experts involved in making the assessment have economic incentives to paint climate change is a dire problem requiring their services, and the services of their university, federal laboratory, or agency.  There is no other explanation for a document that ignored so many scientific references that are included in this Addendum. Assessments serve a very important function for regulators.   The USGCRP report was designed to provide a rationale  to expand regulatory reach, power and cost.   Assessments such as this Addendum are designed to provide a rationale to resist such expansion of reach and regulation.

By Richard Cohen

Richard Cohen is liberal.  Very liberal, you could put an ultra in front of that liberal.  He has this to say:
Source


One of the more melancholy moments of the presidential campaign occurred for me in a screening room. The film was Rory Kennedy’s documentary about her mother, Ethel — the widow of Robert F. Kennedy. Much of it consisted of Kennedy-family home movies, but also film of RFK in Appalachia and in Mississippi among the pitifully emaciated poor. Kennedy brimmed with shock and indignation, with sorrow and sympathy, and was determined — you could see it on his face — to do something about it. I’ve never seen that look on Barack Obama’s face.

Instead, I see a failure to embrace all sorts of people, even members of Congress and the business community. I see diffidence, a reluctance to close. I see a president for whom Afghanistan is not just a war but a metaphor for his approach to politics: He approved a surge but also an exit date. Heads I win, tails you lose.

I once wondered if Obama could be another RFK. The president has great political skills and a dazzling smile. He and his wife are glamorous figures. He’s a black man, and that matters greatly. He remains a startling figure for a nation that was still segregating its schools when I was growing up — and killing the occasional person who protested. I went up to Harlem the night Obama won and heard Charlie Rangel wonder at the wonder of it all. The street outside was named for Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, an earlier black politician. His aides were not permitted to eat in the House cafeteria.

History was draped over Obama like a cape. His bona fides in that sense were as unimpeachable as Bobby Kennedy’s. The crowd adored Obama, although not as much as I think he adored himself. Liberals were intolerant of anyone who had doubts. Obama was not a man, but a totem. A single critical column from me during the campaign triggered a fusillade of invective. The famous and esteemed told me off. I was the tool of right-wing haters, a dope of a dupe.

Kennedy had huge causes. End poverty. End the war. He challenged a sitting president over Vietnam. It could have cost him his career. It did cost him his life. The draft is long gone, and with it indignation about senseless wars. Poverty persists, but now it is mostly blamed on the poor. When it comes to the underclass, we are out of ideas . . . or patience. Or both. Pity Obama in this regard. It’s hard to summon us for a crusade that has already been fought and lost. We made war on poverty. Poverty hardly noticed.

But somewhere between the campaign and the White House itself, Obama got lost. It turned out he had no cause at all. Expanding health insurance was Hillary Clinton’s longtime goal, and even after Obama adopted it, he never argued for it with any fervor. In an unfairly mocked campaign speech, he promised to slow the rise of the oceans and begin to heal the planet. But when he took office, climate change was abandoned — too much trouble, too much opposition. His eloquence, it turned out, was reserved for campaigning.

Obama never espoused a cause bigger than his own political survival. This is the gravamen of the indictment from the left, particularly certain African Americans. They are right. Young black men fill the jails and the morgues, yet Obama says nothing. Bobby Kennedy showed his anger, his impatience, his stunned incredulity at the state of black America. Obama shows nothing.

The Post has endorsed Obama, and I cannot quibble with the editorial. He expanded the nation’s sorry health-care system. He steered the country around the banking, housing and financial crisis that threatened to crater the economy. He got Osama bin Laden and that was good, but he also let Syria fester and that was bad. Most important, he has not been taken hostage by a bumper-sticker ideology. Mitt Romney promises never to raise taxes — either a lie or a fool’s oath.

On the movie screen, Robert F. Kennedy’s appeal is obvious: authenticity. He cared. He showed it. People saw that and cared about him in return. With Obama, the process is reversed. It’s hard to care about someone who seems not to care in return. I will vote for him for his good things, and I will vote for him to keep Republican vandals from sacking the government. But after watching Bobby Kennedy, I will vote for Obama with regret. I wish he was the man I once mistook him for.

California Long Beach Newspaper Endorses Romney.

http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_21871386/editorial-elect-mitt-romney-president

Marriage = Biology (Not Bigotry)

To think he has the nerve to call anyone Liar?!!?

Promises Obama broke.

Politifact (a left leaning fact checker), has surprisingly posted a long list of promises broken by Obama.  While I am certainly relieved that some of them never came to fruition, there must be some supporters and former supporters of his to whom this should awaken.

Optimistic of me?

Yo dumass!

nick·name:
1. a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity: He has always loathed his nickname of “Whizzer.”

2. a familiar form of a proper name, as Jim for James and Peg for Margaret.


Lets say your workplace decides that no nicknames are to be used.  Further, this is due to someone being offended by a nickname foisted upon them.  So this would be a knee jerk over reaction to an individuals choice to be offended (just to be clear).

It is my personal assumption that if you find yourself in the workplace, and someone starts calling you Stinky, to which you take exception, it is behooves you to tell said individual to cease and desist.  If the person persists. Then a higher authority should be brought into play.

There are nicknames that grate or offend, there are those that compliment or coincide.  One of my best friends got the name Froggy.  He wore it with pride.  Should the populace of a workplace be denied from accepted, long used nick-names due to an individual?

So lets say the implement this policy and suddenly you are called out by Bob for not calling him Robert? Well, that does fall within the definition, right?

RNC Web Ad: "Laughing at the Issues" (Official Version)

During the debate, you saw a mean-spirited, rude, overbearing, disrespectful vice president of the United States who epitomizes and epitomized the Democrat Party today. 

Canadian Ezra Levant