BMEWS
 
Sarah Palin is the only woman who can make Tony Romo WIN a playoff.

calendar   Monday - September 03, 2007

Voluntary Mandatory Care

Amazing

Edwards backs mandatory preventive care

TIPTON, Iowa - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care.

“It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care,” he told a crowd sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Cedar County Courthouse. “If you are going to be in the system, you can’t choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK.”

Nothing like a little home-grown American Socialism for the start of Fall.

So, of course, since this is America, land of the free and home of the brave, we can choose whether or not we want to participate in this little ponzi scheme, right?

Edwards said his mandatory health care plan would cover preventive, chronic and long-term health care. The plan would include mental health care as well as dental and vision coverage for all Americans

Oh, and I loved this part.  How does Silky plan on paying for all of this care?

Edwards said his plan would cost up to $120 billion a year, a cost he proposes covering by ending President Bush’s tax cuts to people who make more than $200,000 per year.

Let me get this straight.  President Bush puts tax cuts into place and the left cries about how we can’t afford it and the deficit goes down.  In fact, revenue is so high, the projected defisit into the future is cut by a large margin.  So the way to generate even more revenue is to put those taxes back on the backs of people?

And they wonder why we laugh at them and just shake our collective heads in amuzement.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 09/03/2007 at 10:10 PM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsHealth-Medicine •  
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calendar   Thursday - August 09, 2007

So, You Want Hillary-Care?  Part II

Saw this over at LawDog’s, and frankly, it was a little too much to believe.  So I checked it out for myself.

Damn.

Nevada’s Most Infamous Brothel, Mustang Ranch, Back In Business

PATRICK, Nev. — It made Nevada the only state where prostitution is legal. In its checkered history, it was burned down, rebuilt, shut down by the IRS and sold on eBay for the price of a modest home.

Now it’s back.

In its 40 years, the self-proclaimed World Famous Mustang Ranch has seen the murder of a heavyweight boxing contender and an owner who skipped the country to dodge the feds. It has heard countless stories that never will be told and knows names that never will be uttered.

Like the phoenix rising out of the ashes, the gaudy pink stucco buildings housing the cribs of its prostitutes are in a new location, under new management and looking better than ever.

That in itself is interesting, but this is what blows my mind:

By 1990, the IRS was fed up with his tax shenanigans and seized the ranch, putting the federal government in the unique position of running a brothel. It failed and the ranch was padlocked for the first time.

Read that again.

The US Government does not even have the financial prowess to run a brothel and make a go of it.

And they want to run our health care system?

As LawDog says:

So, the next time some bright-eyed little bit starts chanting about “Universal Health Care”, I’m going to loudly and firmly opine that until the Federal Government is capable of running a profitable brothel ... they’ve got no business trying to run my health care.

Then kick them in the nuts.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 08/09/2007 at 01:34 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-MedicineHumorOutrageous •  
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calendar   Saturday - July 28, 2007

So, You Want HillaryCare?

Kim over at WizBang, found a great article about Canada’s healthcare system.  This is what happens when you hand the keys to any program over to Uncle Sam.

Michael Moore, call your office.

I was once a believer in socialized medicine. As a Canadian, I had soaked up the belief that government-run health care was truly compassionate. What I knew about American health care was unappealing: high expenses and lots of uninsured people.

My health care prejudices crumbled on the way to a medical school class. On a subzero Winnipeg morning in 1997, I cut across the hospital emergency room to shave a few minutes off my frigid commute.

Swinging open the door, I stepped into a nightmare: the ER overflowed with elderly people on stretchers, waiting for admission. Some, it turned out, had waited five days. The air stank with sweat and urine. Right then, I began to reconsider everything that I thought I knew about Canadian health care.

A five-day wait for an ER visit....I hope its not a, you know, EMERGENCY!

Here’s some more good news:

Government researchers now note that more than 1.5 million Ontarians (or 12% of that province’s population) can’t find family physicians. Health officials in one Nova Scotia community actually resorted to a lottery to determine who’d get a doctor’s appointment.

These problems are not unique to Canada—they characterize all government-run health care systems.

Consider the recent British controversy over a cancer patient who tried to get an appointment with a specialist, only to have it canceled—48 times. More than 1 million Britons must wait for some type of care, with 200,000 in line for longer than six months. In France, the supply of doctors is so limited that during an August 2003 heat wave—when many doctors were on vacation and hospitals were stretched beyond capacity—15,000 elderly citizens died. Across Europe, state-of-the-art drugs aren’t available. And so on.

Single-payer systems—confronting dirty hospitals, long waiting lists and substandard treatment—are starting to crack, however. Canadian newspapers are filled with stories of people frustrated by long delays for care. Many Canadians, determined to get the care they need, have begun looking not to lotteries—but to markets.

Go read the rest and see your futute when the whiners get their way and get .gov to take over your health care.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/28/2007 at 07:31 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
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calendar   Thursday - July 05, 2007

TED - Hans Rosling

If you are not familiar with the TED conference, it is a gathering of real thinkers (and some loons) to give short, 18 minute talks about what is important in their worlds.  It started as a conference about Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED), but has expanded to cover much more.  To be sure, there is a plethora of liberal thought spread thickly throughout this community, but amongst the chaff, there is some good wheat.

This talk is by Dr. Hans Rosen.  He makes some claims about CO2 emissions and climate change that you will most likely take issue with, but don’t let that keep you from missing some very interesting points he is making.  Also, the software he is using is absolutely amazing in terms of statistical Visualization (my pet project for the past couple of years).  Finally, his conclusions about the means and goals of helping the developing countries is fascinating to me.

What do you think?


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/05/2007 at 10:54 AM   
Filed Under: • AfricaClimate-WeatherColleges-ProfessorsHealth-MedicineInternational •  
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calendar   Tuesday - July 03, 2007

Doing the Right Thing

I have a lot of respect for Derek Fisher, not because he’s a great player (I don’t actually follow the NBA that closely), but because of this

Fisher leaves Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—The Utah Jazz agreed to release guard Derek Fisher from his contract Monday so he can concentrate on finding the best care for his 11-month-old daughter, who has cancer in her left eye.

“Life for me outweighs the game of basketball,” Fisher told reporters after flying from New York to meet with Jazz owner Larry H. Miller and other team executives.

“When it comes to decisions related to them,” he said of his family, “I do what’s best.”

.....

“For me and my family, we just don’t believe in it. ... I don’t think I could be the player I could be if I had to carry that load,” Fisher said.

Wiping away tears, Miller said Fisher “leaves a legacy” of leadership and toughness for Utah’s young players.

“He’s focused on the most important thing,” the owner said of Fisher’s request to leave the Jazz.

We’re praying for Tatum and your family Derek.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/03/2007 at 12:13 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-MedicineSports •  
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calendar   Friday - June 29, 2007

Man Found

As an update to this story, we see that they found him.

WILLIAMS, Ariz.—A 65-year-old St. Louis man who went missing Sunday night after Amtrak personnel, mistaking his diabetic shock for drunk and disorderly behavior, kicked him off a train in the middle of a national forest, has been found two miles from where he was dropped off, according to police in Williams.

Police said Roosevelt Sims, a factory worker who had just retired last week, was discovered Thursday night walking along the railroad tracks barefoot by Coconino County sheriff’s deputies.

Deputies said he was dehydrated and disoriented.

Looks like more information is being released as well that tell more about what happened.  My original image was that they stopped the train and put the guy off in the woods.  Sounds slightly more reasonable with this account:

Amtrak, in a statement released late Thursday, said it followed company policy. “The conductor and the passenger waited on the platform with the passenger’s luggage,” the statement said. “Upon arrival of authorities, the passenger fled into nearby woods.”

When officers arrived at the crossing, police said, they found Sims had left his luggage and medication behind.

So it looks like they stopped at an old station, called the constable and waited for him to arrive.  When he did, the man took off for the woods, leaving his luggage and meds behind.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/29/2007 at 11:12 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-MedicineStoopid-People •  
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calendar   Sunday - February 18, 2007

I Told You So …

All along President Bush has repeatedly said that he opposes embryonic stem cell research because (a) there is no proven benefit being demonstrated to this point, and (2) there is too much room for unethical harvesting of human eggs for research. Meanwhile, adult stem cells are providing cures in several areas. Embryonic stem cells have so far proven to be good for not much more than creating cancer.

Now, welcome to the President’s worst fears: women being encouraged to become nurseries for scientists to harvest crops of human eggs to be used in embryonic stem cell research. This is the slippery slope the President was afraid of and sure enough, he was right - again. Not that that will matter to the research scientists out there who are dreaming of all the grant money they can grab if they just continue to pressure governments to free up public funding for their bullshit research.

The sad part is that there are many poor women who will look at this as an opportunity to make a few bucks to get by in exchange for a tiny body part - even though the procedure to “harvest” eggs is extremely dangerous. You can’t say we didn’t tell you so. The greed of research scientists trumps womens’ health once again. I wonder how women will react to being forced by financial hardship into a life of being nothing more than a cash crop.

Women Will Be Paid To Donate Eggs For Science
(GUARDIAN-UK) - Sunday February 18, 2007

imageimageWomen will be paid to donate their eggs for scientific research in a landmark decision that will prompt a fierce backlash from leading figures in the medical world.

The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the government regulator of this highly sensitive area, is expected to approve the policy when it meets on Wednesday. At present, clinics are not allowed to accept eggs donated for scientific research unless they are a byproduct of either IVF treatment or sterilisation. Campaigners for change say that this has led to a chronic shortage of eggs for scientific use.

The HFEA’s influential Ethics and Law Committee has already privately recommended the controversial switch, and the authority is expected to follow this recommendation. The committee based its opinion on a 64-page report, seen by The Observer, summarising the arguments. ‘The potential scientific gains outweigh the objections,’ said one source closely involved in the decision.

The authority will argue that allowing women to donate eggs more generally for scientific use may help stem cell researchers to find cures for heart problems, infertility, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Women who go through the medical procedure to harvest the eggs from their ovaries, which doctors describe as ‘invasive’ and possibly dangerous, will be paid £250 plus travel expenses, the existing maximum compensation for any egg or sperm donor. Anyone agreeing to donate will have to show that they are acting for altruistic reasons, for example because they have a close relative suffering with one of the conditions scientists are trying to develop new treatments for with the aid of human eggs.

But scientists from the University of Padua in Italy have warned that women who donate their eggs for research could be at risk from life-threatening side effects induced by the powerful drugs administered to them. The drugs help to increase the number of eggs produced and were found by the scientists to cause paralysis and could lead to limb amputation and even death.

There were also warnings last night that poor women could be tempted or coerced into taking part for the money. ‘The HFEA could be unwittingly opening the door to barter or sale of eggs, including women in Britain as well as abroad, even though it is saying that women doing this would do so for purely altruistic reasons,’ said Donna Dickenson, emeritus professor of medical ethics and humanities at the University of London and one of Britain’s leading experts on the issue.

‘The sum of £250 would still be enough of an inducement for women from eastern Europe, for example, to come to Britain to sell their eggs. That’s clearly turning eggs into an object of trade and that’s disturbing. Once the principle of egg donation for research is established, it will become harder to prohibit paid egg donation.’

Some leading scientists have welcomed the HFEA’s expected decision. Professor Peter Braude, head of the department of women’s health at King’s College London, said the medical dangers involved in the process of collecting the eggs should not deter women from offering to help medical science make potentially significant breakthroughs. There is a low but well-recognised risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which can occur during the extraction of eggs and can damage a woman’s fertility and even cause death.

‘Women are intelligent enough to make decisions for themselves about whether they want to donate eggs for research,’ said Braude. ‘Why should they be prevented from doing this? They shouldn’t be, as long as they are told about the risks. Women have been donating eggs for more than 20 years, usually those undergoing sterilisation, so the principle isn’t new. This is different because it’s volunteering.’

- More ...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 02/18/2007 at 11:59 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-MedicineScience-Technology •  
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calendar   Tuesday - October 31, 2006

Miracle Cure?

In this week’s editorial, Michael Reagan looks at the hot issue of this campaign - and one that has special meaning for him ... embryonic stem cell research. Meanwhile, research in adult stem cells and umbilical cord blood stem cells is already providing cures and medical breakthroughs without destroying potential human life.

British scientists announced today that they have grown human livers from umbilical cord blood stem cells that will have the immediate benefit of providing testing cells for pharmaceutical companies and someday provide entire human livers for transplant ... and, as Michael says, that’s the truth of the matter ...

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Mike Lester - The Rome News-Tribune (GA)

Stem Cell Research – A Little Truth Wouldn’t Hurt
-- by Michael Reagan

image imageStem cell research is one of the major issues in many campaigns across the country in this election year, and it is being demagogued like few others.

In the interest of truth in politics it’s worth noting that there are two kinds of stem cells research – one involving embryonic stem cells (ESC) and the other using adult or cord-blood stem cells. The overwhelming number of candidates, Republican and Democratic, favor research on stem cells gathered from adult and core-blood sources.

But many, mostly Republicans, oppose ESC research because harvesting the cells requires killing a living human embryo, and in many cases result from cloning human embryos for the sole purpose of harvesting the stem cells from the embryos killed in the process.

All across the country, Democrats and their lackeys in the media distort the issue by portraying those opposed to embryonic stem cell research as being opposed to all stem cell research, refusing to draw the crucial distinction between the two types.

In addition to this dishonest tactic, proponents of ESC research inevitably claim that it is the form of research holding out the most promise as an effective means of curing a host of serious physical and mental disorders, while either ignoring or downplaying the incredible results now demonstrated in adult and core-blood stem cell research.

Moreover, a great falsehood been spread that President Bush and fellow Republicans opposed to embryonic stem cell research have attempted to ban it outright, when the truth is that all they have done is to seek to deny it government funding. Those who want to pursue it are free to find other sources of revenue, which—if the promises made on its behalf were credible—would be readily available from sources such as drug companies.

Such funding is not forthcoming, and for very good reasons. Think about it this way: there are about 70 to 80 million baby boomers right now on the cusp of reaching the age where they will be susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease.

With that many people just in the U.S. facing the threat of falling prey to Alzheimer’s disease, wouldn’t you think that if there were an answer to the problem—as the use of embryonic stem cells has been widely touted to be by its proponents—that the drug companies would be falling all over themselves to throw money at those wanting to do ESC research and come up with cures that would make them hundreds of billions in profits?

The fact that the drug companies have turned their back on ESC research should tell you something. One reason is that there is absolutely no basis for the claims that ESC holds a promise to cure all sorts of ailments from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s, or even spinal cord injuries. It’s all smoke and mirrors and most of it is based on a single source—the thoroughly discredited claims of South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-suk, who has been convicted of falsifying his research data.

One damning result of the ESC research that has been done is the fact that when the cells are injected into lab animals many grow brain tumors – some malignant and fatal. Thus far, that is the sole fruit of ESC research – fatal brain tumors. Drug companies aren’t interested in funding that kind of outcome. There’s no money in producing brain tumors.

In contrast to the dismal results of ESC, research on adult and cord-blood stem cells has produced real results, helping to cure such maladies as sickle cell anemia, lymphoma and juvenile leukemia. As a result funding is no problem here.

Claims that the president and his party are opposed to stem cell research fall flat on their back when you recall that last year Congress overwhelmingly passed—and the president signed—a bill funding the saving and storage of therapeutic core-blood stem cells and providing $150 million to fund storage of the cells.

That’s the truth of the matter.


Mike Reagan, the eldest son of the late President Ronald Reagan, is heard on more than 200 talk radio stations nationally as part of the Radio America Network. Look for Mike’s new book, “Twice Adopted.” Order autographed books at http://www.reagan.com. E-mail comments to mereagan@hotmail.com. ©2006 Mike Reagan. If you’re not a paying subscriber to our service, you must contact us to print or web post this column. Mike’s column is distributed exclusively by: Cagle Cartoons, Inc. Cari Dawson Bartley email Cari@cagle.com, (800) 696-7561.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 10/31/2006 at 01:31 AM   
Filed Under: • EditorialsHealth-Medicine •  
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calendar   Saturday - September 16, 2006

Public Health Announcement

Warning: if you have either of these products from Earthbound Farm in your refrigerator, DO NOT EAT! Discard them immediately.

Federal health officials last night linked a deadly E. coli outbreak in bagged spinach products to a California farm company that sells organic produce in 74 percent of the country’s grocery stores. Natural Selection Foods, widely known for its Earthbound Farm brand, yesterday recalled all its fresh spinach products, along with packaged salads.

Natural Selection Foods recalled all packages of its fresh spinach and any salad with spinach in a blend because they are possibly contaminated with E. coli. The affected packages have “Best if Used by Dates” of Aug. 17 through Oct. 1. Consumers with questions can contact the company at 800-690-3200.

The recalled brands: Bellissima, Cheney Brothers, Coastline, Compliments, Cross Valley, D’Arrigo Brothers, Dole, Earthbound Farm, Emeril, Fresh Point, Green Harvest, Jansal Valley, Mann, Mills Family Farm, Natural Selection Foods, Nature’s Basket, O Organic, Premium Fresh, President’s Choice, Pride of San Juan, Pro-Mark, Rave Spinach, Ready Pac, River Ranch, Riverside Farms, Snoboy, Superior, Sysco, Tanimura & Antle, The Farmer’s Market, Trader Joe’s.

image  image

image
tune
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man
There’s E. Coli in this can
You’ll go all ta piecies
from bad germs from feces
I’m Popeye the Sailor ghaak! *flump*


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 09/16/2006 at 12:27 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
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calendar   Wednesday - July 12, 2006

Zombie Dogs… Your dog wants brains…

U.S. scientists have apparently discovered a way to reanimate dogs that have been clinically dead for three hours, a process intended for future human trials.

I don’t know which is scarier… zombie dogs or zombie humans.

A new scientific approach tested at the Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research, based in Pittsburgh, drains some of the animal’s blood and replaces it with an ice-cold salt solution. The dog--considered technically dead without a heartbeat or brain waves--is then revived with a blood transfusion and electric shock up to three hours later. The process, called “suspended animation with delayed resuscitation,” is ultimately designed to help suspend and revive emergency victims, such as casualties of war or car accidents, who have experienced an otherwise lethal hemorrhage.

Predictably, animal-rights whackos weighed in…

But the animal rights community must have had a hemorrhage over the Safar Centre’s tests. Last week, it issued a statement clarifying its research tactics and outlining its compliance with standards for the ethical treatment of animals.

Human trials? Are these voluntary? Yikes! If voluntary, when do you volunteer? After they revive you? Then you get the bill and have a heart attack…


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Posted by Christopher   United States  on 07/12/2006 at 07:10 PM   
Filed Under: • AnimalsHealth-MedicineOdd-Strange •  
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calendar   Thursday - June 29, 2006

A Serious Problem

Good advice: “steer clear of smokers and any of their drifting fumes.” Yes, those damned hippy Liberals burning the American flag do tend to stink up the place pretty bad. So by all means, keep your distance. There does appear to be “overwhelming evidence” that contact with these individuals and their burning and smoking habits can lead to many serious illnesses including voting for Democrats and believing Michael Moore.

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Steve Kelley - New Orleans Times-Picayune

Surgeon General: No Safe Level Of Secondhand Smoke
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 11:10 p.m. EDT (03:10 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP)—Steer clear of smokers and any of their drifting fumes. That’s the advice of the surgeon general, who on Tuesday declared the debate about the dangers of secondhand smoke over. “The science is clear: Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard,” said Richard Carmona.

There is no safe level of secondhand smoke—even a few minutes inhaling someone else’s smoke harms nonsmokers, he found. And separate smoking sections, even the best ventilated ones, don’t protect enough. Carmona called for completely smoke-free buildings and public places to lessen what he termed “involuntary smoking.”

More than 126 million nonsmoking Americans are regularly exposed to someone else’s tobacco smoke, and tens of thousands die each year as a result, concludes the 670-page study. It cites “overwhelming scientific evidence” that secondhand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer and a list of other illnesses.

The report is sure to fuel efforts by states and cities to ban smoking in workplaces and other public spaces. Seventeen states and more than 400 towns, cities and counties have passed strong no-smoking laws.

- More on the story at CNN ...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 06/29/2006 at 04:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsHealth-Medicine •  
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calendar   Wednesday - April 05, 2006

Getting Sick In Massachusetts

Uh-oh, here we go again. Massachusetts is going to require health insurance just like they require automobile insurance. Its’ a good idea but is it feasible. Nowadays, if you’re not in the upper-middle class or above, you can’t afford insurance. We have the best medical system in the world today but at a terrible price thanks to ambulance chasing lawyers, million-dollar lawsuits and greedy hospital administrators and drug companies. Where does it end? What is Massachusetts going to do when someone shows up at an emergency room with no insurance? This bodes ill for all of us ...

Massachusetts Bill Requires Health Coverage
State Set to Use Auto Insurance As a Model
Wednesday, April 5, 2006

BOSTON (WASHINGTON POST)—The Massachusetts legislature approved a bill Tuesday that would require all residents to purchase health insurance or face legal penalties, which would make this the first state to tackle the problem of incomplete medical coverage by treating patients the same way it does cars.

Gov. Mitt Romney (R) supports the proposal, which would require all uninsured adults in the state to purchase some kind of insurance policy by July 1, 2007, or face a fine. Their choices would be expanded to include a range of new and inexpensive policies—ranging from about $250 per month to nearly free—from private insurers subsidized by the state.

Romney said the bill, modeled on the state’s policy of requiring auto insurance, is intended to end an era in which 550,000 people go without insurance and their hospital and doctor visits are paid for in part with public funds. “We insist that everybody who drives a car has insurance,” Romney said in an interview. “And cars are a lot less expensive than people.”

Tuesday’s votes approving the bill—154 to 2 in the House and 37 to 0 in the Senate—were the culmination of two years of politicking and several months of backroom negotiations, as rival health-care plans from Romney and the two Democrat-led chambers were hammered into one.

What resulted is a proposal that health-care experts say is unlike any other in the country. What to do about the 45 million Americans without health insurance has flummoxed both the Bush administration, whose proposal for “health savings accounts” fizzled, and that of Bill Clinton, whose broad plan for health-care changes fell flat.

On the state level, Hawaii and Maine have programs that seek to offer near-universal access to health insurance, and Illinois last year approved a subsidy plan that will widely increase coverage for needy children.

But no state, experts say, has taken the step of making health insurance coverage a legal requirement. The idea was applauded by Uwe E. Reinhardt, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, who said that he has long believed that the American system of allowing uninsured patients to receive care at the government’s expense was nothing more than “freedom to mooch.”

- More medical requirements here ...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 04/05/2006 at 10:38 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine •  
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calendar   Sunday - March 26, 2006

Up In Smoke

Before anyone gets the wrong idea let me state up front: (1) I do not use marijuana nor do I condone its use, (2) I do not believe it is within the powers granted to the US government by the people to criminalize the cultivation or possession of marijuana. The stupidest argument I have ever heard is from the US attorney below.

Mankind has a fundamental right to grow crops and every plant has its uses. Even the poppy plant can contribute to mankind’s suffering by providing morphine in addition to the bad things it can be made into like heroin. Even the miserable coca plant has its uses in producing a pleasant soft drink and we all know things go better with Coke.

So why do we have these Draconian drug laws? All they do is fill our prisons with people who just wanted a little mental relief from the stress of everyday life. Is there a medical downside to marijuana use? Probably, as it is inhaled smoke just like a cigarette which has well documented dangers. But do marijuana smokers light up one after the other like cigarette smokers do? I doubt it.

Based on my one experience with marijuana in the late 60’s, we would toke a joint until we were mellow then it was a fight over the twinkies and chips as the “munchies” set in. I don’t recall anyone in the campus “drug culture” that toked more than two or three joints a day, at most. I guess that’s what I hate about the current drug laws. The government is robbing us of personal choice in a matter that involves no one but the individual.

I believe the government has some right to protect us from ourselves by prohibiting murder, robbery and other acts that impact society as a whole but where do we draw the line and say to the government, “back off!” We tried this once before by prohibiting alcohol. All that produced was a nation of criminals and an entire crime industry.

Today alcohol is legal and societal rules manage its consumption. The same needs to happen to marijuana. Think about it: (1) alcohol is taxed and produces millions of dollars in revenue for government, (2) penalties are provided for criminal use of alcohol such as drunk driving, (3) alcohol is prohibited to underage minors who simply cannot handle it in a mature manner, (4) employers and other institutions you interact with on a daily basis have rules in place punishing you for alcohol use where it is inappropriate like the workplace.

Do you notice a pattern in all the above. Use of alcohol is punished - but only if it is misused. Government and society rely on you to make good personal choices. Why is marijuana use different? That is a question I have never heard a reasonable answer to yet. Someone enlighten me. What say you?

imageimageMedical Marijuana Issue Returns to Court
March 26, 2006, 11:46 AM EST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—Each time the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on medical marijuana, the justices have come down against allowing the sick and dying to use the drug to ease their symptoms and possibly prolong life.

However, the door has never been fully closed, and now a federal appeals court is set to hear arguments in the latest round of legal wrangling over the issue. The case to be argued Monday before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco narrows the matter to the so-called right to life theory: that marijuana should be allowed if it is the only viable option to keep a patient alive or free of excruciating pain.

It would apply only to the sickest patients and their suppliers, regardless of whether they live in one of the 11 mostly Western states that allow medical marijuana. “A victory would affect people who are very seriously ill, facing death or great physical suffering,” said Randy Barnett, a Boston University law school professor working on the case.

The case was brought by Angel Raich, a 40-year-old mother of two from Oakland who suffers from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea and other ailments. She uses marijuana every couple of hours to ease her pain and bolster her appetite. “She’d probably be dead without marijuana,” said her doctor, Frank Lucido, who has recommended marijuana for some 3,000 patients. “Nothing else works.”

The Bush administration says the lawsuit is without merit. ”There is no fundamental right to distribute, cultivate or possess marijuana,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Quinlivan, the government’s lead medical marijuana attorney, wrote to the appeals court.

- More government legislation insanity here ...

No fundamental right? God disagrees.

Gen 1:29—And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Gen 1:30—And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 03/26/2006 at 05:20 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-MedicineJudges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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calendar   Friday - March 24, 2006

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

The title of this post says it all. The Gaza Strip is nothing less than a “Cuckoo’s Nest”. The Imams there have been saying the bird flu was sent by Allah to destroy the Jews. Unfortunately, the bird flu has now been found in Gaza ... which is the most heavily populated area on earth with about 2.3 people per square foot (by my best estimate, based on latest figures from the CIA Factbook - 1.3 million people in an area 40 miles long and 4 miles wide).

Unfortunately for the entire civilized world, the Israelis are trying to help the Paleosimians contain the virus. It would be better if they would just let the idjits rot in their pig sty. I know that’s an inhumane thought on my part but is it any worse than the way the Paleswinians feel about Americans and Isralis? Maybe God does have a hand in this after all. Someone contact Pat Robertson and see if he’s heard anything from The Almighty lately ...

imageimageGaza Bird Flu Fears Spread, Fowl To Be Destroyed
24 Mar 2006 15:16:02 GMT

GAZA (Reuters)

Palestinian authorities will begin destroying chickens on Saturday at a farm near the border with Israel in a bid to contain an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, Palestinian medics said on Friday. The culling of hundreds of chickens at the farm near the southern Gaza city of Rafah will be the first in Gaza. Tests were under way at another chicken farm in central Gaza where authorities suspect the virus may have spread.

Many worried Palestinians have reacted to the outbreak by buying more fish and beef, sending prices in Gaza markets soaring. Chicken and egg prices have sharply dropped over fears by Gazans that they could be infected. Health officials say it is safe to eat chicken and eggs that are properly cooked.

Israel plans to give Palestinian authorities enough poison to eliminate birds suspected of being infected, Israel Radio reported. Israel has for months been testing dead fowl found in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian medics said they have received protective gear from Israel to help them deal with the virus. There have been no confirmed cases of the virus infecting humans in Gaza or the West Bank.

Many Gazans fear the Palestinian Ministry of Health is ill equipped to deal with an outbreak and will be quickly be overwhelmed if the virus spreads. Israel is likewise concerned. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the World Bank’s president for assistance in containing the outbreak in Gaza.

- More on the bird scare here ...


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Posted by The Skipper   United States  on 03/24/2006 at 11:43 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-MedicinePaleswine •  
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