Quality Adjusted Life Years and Sen. Kennedy

If Senator Ted Kennedy was under a health plan that Obama's Health-Rationer-in-Chief helped design, (I know, fat chance, right?) it is highly unlikely he would have received the "costly operation and painful follow-up treatments in the face of his own terminal diagnosis." Dr. Rahm Emanuel contributes to an article titled Principals for Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions in the January 31, 2009 edition of The Lancet which states: "When implemented, the complete lives system produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most substantial chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated." See the nice graph on this on p. 5 of the article. This allocation system is based on Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) which is also addressed in the article. Don't think this is ageism because it further states: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination; every person lives through different life stages rather than being a single age. Even if 25-year-olds receive priority over 65-year-olds, everyone who is 65 years now was previously 25 years."

While you are at it, check out this article in the New York Times titled Why We Must Ration Healthcare by Peter Singer, professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Looks like Ted Kennedy would not have fared well with this fellow either.

So , all you old people, don't complain if you get less care, you apparently got yours when you were 25.

California Legislators: You Know We All Hate You, Right?

Brought to you from the L.A. Times:
"For only the second time in 30 years, the tax board is lowering the point where each tax bracket begins, bumping many people into a higher category. At the same time, officials are cutting back some deductions. Everyone will pay more, even people whose bracket or income doesn't change."

"The extra sums will total as much as $140 per family, on top of the increases previously enacted."

You know what happens when my household income drops, as it will with a tax increase? I spend even less than before and so do a lot of other Californians. So how do you think that will affect California's struggling economy?

Income tax rate increased 0.25%
Dependent Credit slashed more than two-thirds
Vehicle License fee nearly doubled to 1.15% of cars value
Lowering tax brackets to bump more Californians into higher tax brackets....priceless.

Barry is Slicker than Willy

Just listened to part of the interview that conservative radio host Michael Smerconish had with President Obama on August 2oth. You can access it here. This link goes to part two and at 3:40 he is asked about illegal immigrants getting health insurance with this bill. He states unequivocally that the illegal immigrants are not eligible for health insurance under the healthcare bill, HR 3200. President Obama says when ever we hear that it does....well, "it is simply not true". OK, Mr. President, I believe you. In Sec. 246, page 143 of HR 3200 it boldly states No Federal Payment of Undocumented Aliens. So what is my problem, you ask? My problem is that there is nothing in the bill that prevents illegal immigrants from signing up. There is no provision to check on citizenship. You say, "well, they must have accidentally left it out and will put in an amendment about something as important as that." Apparently not because when an amendment was added to the bill to prevent illegal aliens from taking advantage of our healthcare bill , IT WAS VOTED DOWN. Possibly because in late June, the National Council of La Raza issued a statement DEMANDING that Congress give illegal aliens taxpayer -funded health care under this bill.

So I guess you could say that technically the president didn't lie, but he didn't exactly tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth either.

Joe Lieberman for President

News Alert....News Alert....This just in from NewsMax.com "One of the Senate's most powerful Democrats said Sunday that President Obama should take an "incremental" approach to fixing health care and argued that the country should postpone adding nearly 50 million new patients to the government system until after the recession is over." Apparently the voice of reason has just been found in the Democratic Party and it is Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut on CNN's "State of the Union" program with John King. "There's no reason we have to do it all now, but we do have to get started. And I think the place to start is health delivery reform and insurance market reforms."

I couldn't have said it better, Senator Lieberman. Could someone please get this message to the President?

New FDA Chief Ex-Monsanto V.P.

Another excellent appointment by President Obama. You've got a Secretary of the Treasury who can't manage to pay his own taxes and a science czar who advocates extreme totalitarian measures to control the population including forced abortions and mass sterilization. So why not have someone in charge of the FDA with the sordid background of Michael Taylor. "Former Monsanto vice president Michael Taylor may be responsible for more food-related illness and death than anyone in history. Yet he has recently been appointed by Obama to be the U.S. food safety czar. It looks like we have yet another case of the fox guarding the hen house." states the Los Angeles Examiner.

Genetically Modified Food is a real danger to our health if you don't already know this. Watch this great video titled The Future of Food to get you started then check out the summary of Jeffrey M. Smith's book Seeds of Destruction for more information. You owe it to yourself and your family.

Yellow Journalism & Race Baiting at MSNBC

I believe if everyone carried guns, we would have a more polite society. I am pro-2nd ammendment. However, I would be the first one to say that carrying a gun like some folks are doing legally at the Arizona Townhall meetings is not the best of ideas. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it in certain circumstances. That doesn't excuse the biased hand-wringing in the MSNBC story. It was pure yellow journalism at best and race baiting at worst. Take a look at the video linked in Robert S. Siegel's post titled "MSNBC cries wolf on assault weapon racism" on his MindYourOwnDamnBusinessPolitics blog.

Before I even got a look at this bastardized video that MSNBC calls news, I saw plenty of pictures, full pictures showing a well-dress black man in shirt sleeves with an AK-15 slung over his shoulder . But look at their video, how they have zoomed in to just show the gun, then in another scene shots of white people. Contessa Brewer says how she is concerned about "racial overtones" in the fact that "here you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with guns strapped to their waists or to their legs." Totally leaving out the fact that the man with the guns shown in THEIR video was BLACK! She should have said she was concerned to have a "man of color" in the presidency and a "man of color" showing up with a gun slung over his shoulder and one on his waist. Read this unbelievable post from page nine blogger Alan Korwin, The Uninvited Ombudsman, titled Special Report: Black Man with Gun Harms No One. The dirty truth comes out when he says "I mentioned to the local NBC-TV affiliate that the media seemed to be avoiding the fact that Chris, the well-known local libertarian with the rifle (and a sidearm), was black. “Well, we’re not supposed to mention race if it’s not a key part of the story.” My eyebrows shot up. “You have a black man with a gun! At a rally for the black president! That’s not relevant?” So she sheepishly admitted, with a chuckle, “Well, that would take away the whole redneck right-wing extremist thing.” This is known in “news” circles as objective reporting. There you have it folks. Inexcusable, untruthful, inflammatory broadcasting. Yellow journalism at it’s best. Thanks MSNBC.

Move Over GM, Here Comes Government Climate Control

An article that just came out in Time Magazine says we're going to do a little "geoengineering" to help slow global warming. Well, sure why not? The government has done such a bang-up job with the economy, why not add climate control to their to-do list? Never been done before you say? Oh pshaw! I'm sure they'll be able to work it in right after they bomb the moon in October to look for WATER VAPOR! Here's an example of one of their brilliant ideas..."One way to turn down the thermostat would be to spread sulfur particles into the atmosphere, either through artillery or with airplanes, thickening the air enough so that it would bounce some sunlight back." WHAT? SULFUR PARTICLES????!!!!! They are screaming about the CO2, but Sulfur is O.K., eh? And don't EVEN get me started on the chemtrails....

Dog Flu?....Seriously?

You know the rule, right? When bad things are happening don't ask the question "Can anything else go wrong?" Apparently someone asked the question and now we have dog flu (canine influenza) spreading.

According to a Discovery News article, Edward Dubovi, director of the virology center at Cornell's Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, first isolated the canine influenza virus in 2004, after University of Florida researchers sent him fluid and tissue samples from greyhound race dogs that had died from a then mysterious respiratory illness at a Florida racetrack. Dubovi and his team determined the cause was the H3N8 equine flu virus, which jumped from horses to dogs. It is highly contagious and in addition to spreading from dog to dog, canines can also catch it from humans, who may have come into contact with infected animals.

But hold on, take a breath and before you fall for more scare tactics from our government, read Dog Flu Vaccine: Do You Really Need a Shot for the H3N8 Canine Virus? by Jan Rasmusen, author of Scared Poopless: The Straight Scoop on Dog Care(http://www.dogs4dogs.com/). This article and her website is full of great information.

The Foot in the Door

"American people would never vote for socialism, but under the name of liberalism American people will adopt every fragment of the socialist program." So stated Norman Thomas in 1927. Listen to Ronald Reagan give a 10 minute speech on socialized medicine and how one of the traditional methods of imposing socialism on a people is through medicine.
He states it is easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project. And most people are reluctant to object to anything that suggests medical care for those who can't afford it. (Lest we be called Nazis!)

The healthcare bill we are arguing about now could be considered the "foot in the door" and allow the programs described to be expanded at a later date. I believe that is where the end of life counseling described on page 425 of the healthcare bill could be "expanded" into end of life assistance. That part was recently removed because of all of the hoopla regarding it. But why remove it if it wasn't true?

47 Million Uninsured...Really?

"47 MILLION UNINSURED!" is the rallying cry for those promoting the healthcare bill. I wonder if they know a portion of this 47 million consists of those who have changed from one insurance to another during the year and those so f***king rich, they don't even need insurance. They can pay "cash on the barrel". Think they might be skewing the numbers a little? Oh no, this is the administration of transparency, remember?

An interesting report written by June E. O’Neill and Dave M. O’Neill, Baruch College, City University of New York came out in June 2009 that describes who these 47 million uninsured are.

On page 36, one statistic jumped out at me. Out of the involuntarily uninsured, 33.3% of them are high school dropouts, yet only 7% of the privately insured are high school dropouts. Sounds like a good reason to stay in school, kids.

Bush as Hitler: Remember When?

Oh the horror! Barack Obama is being compared to Hitler. Let's go to the Way-Back machine and take a little trip to that not so long ago time when bashing the current president and comparing him to Hitler was A-OK. Here is the retrospective from Zomblog. Another example where it is ok for the Democrats to do something, but if the Republicans do the same thing...well... that's just un-f***ing American. The truth is undeniable though. It is the "same shit, different asshole!"

You're Only Un-American if You Disagree with Nancy Pelosi

"There is nothing more articulate, more eloquent to a member of Congress than the voice of his or her own constituent." I bet after recent news, you would never guess it was Nancy Pelosi who said this at a National Security Issues Townhall on Jan. 17, 2006. Wow! Who knew Nancy Pelosi was a "fan of disrupters"! Watch the video below. At 1:18 she makes the above statement. Audience members are screaming and yelling, the moderator is trying to get them to calm down, and you'll hear Pelosi saying "That's ok, that's ok." One audience member is screaming her head off. Does Nancy Pelosi tell her she is un-American? Hell No. She say's she "understands" her anger. Why is using "un-American" tactics, i.e. disrupting townhalls, while agreeing with the Democratic agenda is ok, but damn it, you better not use them when you disagree. What a piece of work she is.

The Reason for Uncivility at Town Hall Meetings

Open Letter to Congress:

Perhaps if the American people felt they were being listened to, unlike at this townhall meeting with Rep. Sheila Jackson who took a PHONE CALL while a woman told her story about her cancer treatment, we could have "calm debate" about the healthcare bill.

Perhaps if the American people didn't feel they were being lied to by an Obama delagate posing as a doctor in the audience like at this townhall meeting, we could have "calm debate" about the healthcare bill.

Americans are having townhall meetings like this because "calm debate" has gotten us nothing but a trillion dollar deficit, an un-stimulating stimulus, and a 1000+ page unread healthcare bill.

Why We Can't Trust the Government with Our Healthcare

Four years ago, Congress charged NASA with the mission of spotting most of the asteroids that pose a threat to Earth. Unfortunately it never gave NASA the money to build the necessary telescopes that would enable them to accomplish the task, according to the report released Wednesday by the National Academy of Sciences.

Just an oversight perhaps? Hmmm. This is a perfect example of how government works...crappy. If they can't manage to make sure a program that they assign gets funded, I really don't think they have any business attempting to run a healthcare program for the country.

Patriots At Work

This video proves that if you don't go along with their program, AARP will just walk out and disregard you. Watch these Americans exercising their right to free speech. Do they look like they are astroturf (as in not a grassroots effort) ? No, they look like our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, fed up with the b.s. we have been handed and letting them know it. For anyone who doesn't already know, AARP is not looking out for retired people. They have their own agenda. I contacted them and told them in no uncertain terms to take me off their mailing list because I would never, ever join their organization. And that was because they were supporting the higher taxes of California's Proposition 1A, something that would hurt retired folks on a fixed income.

Words of Coercion, not Choice

What’s In A Word?

House Democrats' Health Plan Contains Words of Coercion -- not Choice -- Text Analysis Shows

(Alexandria, Va.) -- House Democrats use words such as "choice" in stump speeches on behalf of their recently introduced health care legislation, but according to an analysis by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), the actual text of the bill tells a different story. NTUF determined that the words "choice," "options," and "freedom" appear just 85 times in the mammoth 1,018-page legislation, while three restrictive words -- "require," "limit," and "must" (and variations) -- were nine times more prevalent.

Inconvenient Dissent

You've got to read, if you haven't already, Mark Steyn's Sunday article in the O.C. Register titled "Conformity is now the new dissent". It made me laugh out loud. He takes issue with the White House's request to send them any "fishy" emails we receive regarding the Healthcare Bill at flag@whitehouse.gov.

Here's a novel idea, why not write a bill in plain language that is clear to everyone instead of some gobbledy-gook that requires a translation? Then we wouldn't have to depend on someone elses spin in an email sent to us. Seems to me it is just a great distraction to write this "gazillion-page health care reform entirely unread by the House of Representatives or the Senate" that causes people to get apoplectic about it. That way we can concentrate on fighting amongst ourselves regarding what the Healthcare bill really says instead of watching the economy is go down the tube or be concerned that the Federal Reserve is printing money by the barrel full.

Inconvenient Debt

Watch Inconvenient Debt. This will blow your socks off folks and compel you to do some reading on the Federal Reserve.
Glenn Beck graphs out how much money is being printed, put in circulation and devaluing our money. Eye opening. Then watch the video I have listed over on the left regarding the Federal Reserve not being Federal or being a Reserve. It is no wonder we are in the situation we are in and it started way before Obama. Nixon took us off the gold standard and all the presidents since then have continued the scheme.

Inconvenient Truth: California Assembly Gets Rid of Evidence!

Those sneaky rat-bastards in the Democrat-controlled California Assembly prove they really are criminals by "getting rid of the evidence" and purging their votes on AB23 the offshore oil drilling bill. And it wasn't just an accident or computer glitch, the July 24 vote has been officially expunged.

"Republicans suspect the move was made on behalf of Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista, who supposedly did not want a roll call when the defeat of the measure became apparent. Democrats insist the purge was for the benefit of Republican leader Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo, whose vote for the oil-drilling plan as part of the budget deal was not likely to play well in his coastal district." or so states the San Francisco Chronicle. In the Capitol Weekly, Blakeslee's office denied those charges.

Did they really think this would go unnoticed? As Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine says in the San Francisco Chronicle article "It's not like Al Gore hadn't invented the Internet yet or we didn't have instant replay."

So You Want Canadian Healthcare, eh?

Just came upon a very informative video of how it actually feels to go through the Canadian healthcare system. I love the quote from Michael Moore stating that Canadians live 3 years longer because of their wonderful healthcare system. After watching the video, I surmise they live 3 years longer because there is probably a waiting period to die too. Interestingly the architect of the Canadian system, Claude Castonguay, believes it "lies in ruins". Here's the article.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

It's kind of ironic that those "birthers" have come up with another version of your birth certificate right before your birthday, isn't it? I'm sure it is a nuisance. My question is why put up with this irritation. You have been to Iraq for which you would/should have been issued a Diplomatic Passport which requires the following: "For applicants born in the United States, a certified birth certificate from the state vital statistics office in the state in which you were born is required. Hospital-issued certificates will not be accepted. We can not accept photocopies of a birth certificate that have been notarized or certified as a true copy unless this was performed by the State vital records office." That means you would have to have a certified birth certificate. Why not put that in the public record? I'll tell you why, oh crafty one. As your main man Rahm Emanuel said about not wasting a serious crisis, you have decided not to waste a distraction. Could this plan really discredit the entire Republican party because a few birthers meltdown in frustration? I guess we shall see.

The Joker or The Dunce?

"According to KTLA News, Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson is calling the depiction politically mean-spirited and dangerous."
Guess which one of these depictions he is talking about?

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is just the first of the many wailing cries to come from a group that thinks ridiculing George Bush by depicting him as a dunce is just peachy keen, but put a jokers smile on Barack Obama, well, now you've gone too far!

Look, neither one of these men, nor any other Democrat or Republican was the right choice for our Presidency.

Unfortunately, I did not "get" Ron Paul at first. What a waste that I didn't cast my vote for him. I came late to the party and didn't understand that Bush was not his own man but beholden to the bankers who, thanks to the Federal Reserve, are able to run this country into the ground for their own purposes. Now Obama has continued the trend.

Are You Ready for Camp?

Here's an interesting little nugget. Part-time positions have opened up in the Army National Guard for Internment/Resettlement Specialists.
..................she pauses for dramatic effect..................
Hmm, just to make sure it wasn't somebody's idea of a joke, I searched Monster.com myself.

"As an Internment/Resettlement Specialist for the Army National Guard, you will ensure the smooth running of military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility, similar to those duties conducted by civilian Corrections Officers. This will require you to know proper procedures and military law; and have the ability to think quickly in high-stress situations. Specific duties may include assisting with supervision and management operations; providing facility security; providing custody, control, supervision, and escort; and counseling individual prisoners in rehabilitative programs."

Perhaps they would work here. So, what do you think? Is your first thought, "Well, it must be for the war effort, you know all those Taliban and Al Qaida prisoners."? But wait...there's more...let me call your attention to the phrase "similar to those duties conducted by civilian Corrections Officers." Ok, then you think "Well, it must be to help the Iraqi or Afghani citizens who need help resettling." Perhaps, or maybe it's for something that's coming up in our own country with our own citizens. Our citizen "radicals" who, God forbid, have a Christian view, oppose illegal immigration, abortion, federal taxes and dare exercise their Right to Free Speech by putting...I shudder to say it...Bumper Stickers on their vehicles to espouse their beliefs. You decide, but the quote from Pastor Martin Niemöller seems appropriate.

Examples of Britain's Healthcare

The Independent
She supported the NHS – then it let her down
By Nina Lakhani

Kathleen Shaw makes her usual meal of bread and cheese, feeling her way from the kitchen into the lounge where she will force herself to eat a little. She used to enjoy cooking and loved to eat while sitting outside in her garden. But she's now a prisoner in her...

Lucentis: An NHS dilemma
What the controversy over the sight-saving drug Lucentis tells us about the NHS and drugs industry.

The Concept of a Federal Health Board: Learning from Britain's Experience

Can Somebody Please Just Tell The American People the Truth?

Ah, the truth. Have you tried reading the Healthcare Bill? Here's the link. Why must these things be written in such a way that allows factions to spin it their own way. Not even Democratic Congressman John Conyers would try reading it without 2 lawyers.

Try to match up the following with the actual bill.

Health Bill Highlights1-Conservative view

Health Bill Highlights2-Liberal view

Is there any wonder that folks don't feel the government is exactly straight forward with the facts?