Friday August 21st

A Deck Stacked With Race Cards

What if America transcended race, and Barack Obama wasn’t invited? The question comes to mind as cries of racism grow ever louder from Obama’s supporters. No one should be surprised. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, liberal Democrats have to accuse their opponents of racism. Indeed, somewhat to their credit, fighting racism — alas, even where it doesn’t exist — is one of the reasons they became liberal Democrats in the first place. [Hey all you guilt trippin’ left wing crackers, how’s all that racial hopey changy BS workin’ for ya these days?…ed]

The Death Book for Veterans

If President Obama wants to better understand why America’s discomfort with end-of-life discussions threatens to derail his health-care reform, he might begin with his own Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). He will quickly discover how government bureaucrats are greasing the slippery slope that can start with cost containment but quickly become a systematic denial of care. Last year, bureaucrats at the VA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care advocated a 52-page end-of-life planning document, “Your Life, Your Choices.” [Brought about by Clinton, killed by Bush, brought back by Obama. What’s that tell ya? Read it here…ed]

As Vets Suffer, VA Staff Get $24M Bonuses

Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses. In scathing reports this week, the VA’s inspector general said thousands of technology office employees at the VA received the bonuses over a two-year period, some under questionable circumstances. It also detailed abuses ranging from nepotism to an inappropriate relationship between two VA employees. [Government run healthcare at it’s finest…ed]

Family told by NHS: Alzheimer’s is not a ‘health condition’

NHS Worcestershire ruled that Judith Roe, 74, did not qualify for NHS funding because her condition was a “social” rather than “health” problem, even though she was so ill she could not make a cup of tea and regularly left the stove on. She was forced to sell her £200,000 home to pay her £600-a-week nursing home fees, which would have been funded if she had been categorised correctly. Mrs Roe’s family appealed to the Health Service Ombudsman, which ruled that Mrs Roe’s assessment had been incorrect and her treatment should have been funded by the NHS. NHS Worcestershire has now reimbursed them for six years of care. [Alzheimer’s disease was the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2008. Sounds like a health condition to me…ed]

California’s unemployment rate hits record high

California’s unemployment rate took an unexpected leap in July, reaching a new high of 11.9% and bucking a trend that saw the national rate drop over the same period. The state lost a net 35,800 jobs last month, shedding more jobs than any other state, the U.S. Labor Department said today. It has lost 760,000 jobs over the last year. [Last one out hit the light switch…ed]

California Senate OKs plan to reduce prison population

After an impassioned debate over the cost and benefit of California’s massive prison system, the state Senate on Thursday narrowly approved a controversial bill to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in spending on state lockups by reducing the time lower-level inmates would spend behind bars and on parole. (SNIP) The discord came as the state faces a looming deadline from three federal judges to produce a plan to reduce overcrowding by taking about 40,000 inmates out of a system that now holds nearly 170,000. [No wonder people are fleeing the state by the thousands. All hell is gonna break loose with another 40,000 convicted criminals back on the street knowing the state doesn’t have the funds to deal with their illegal behavior…ed]

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Palin: Can’t have health care reform without medical malpractice reform

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has again taken to her Facebook page, again to position herself on a key aspect of the national debate over health care reform. Last week, it was on the “death panels” Palin believes will inevitably result if Obamacare becomes law. This week, Palin takes on another aspect of the debate and stakes out a position that seems designed to highlight one of the biggest weaknesses of President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders – their dependence upon trial lawyers for funding. [Go Sarah! She’s absolutely right. The solution to a major problem with our healthcare system starts with tort reform but that seems to be oddly missing from all of the Democrat plans…ed]

Trial lawyers are the fourth branch of government

Ten years ago, notorious trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs, apparently frustrated with elected officials’ inaction on health care, decided to take matters into his own hands, filing class-action lawsuits against HMOs. Reporting on the suits, Time magazine asked Scruggs whether the plaintiffs’ bar was trying to run America. His response, accompanied by laughter, was, “Somebody’s got to do it.” [What’s the difference between a porcupine and a Mercedes Benz full of lawyers? The porcupine has pricks on the outside…ed]

New Zealand Votes to Legalize Smacking Kids

New Zealanders voted overwhelmingly to overturn a law that prohibits parents from hitting children, according to the results of a nationwide referendum released Friday, but the government says the law is working and won’t be changed. Opponents of the 2007 law claim it is overly intrusive and could turn thousands of good parents into criminals. They won the right to hold the referendum, which is not binding, by signing up 300,000 eligible voters in support of it. They also drew up the question. [I wonder if this means people can smack other people’s kids?…ed]

Medical examiner describes victims’ torture in Cobbins trial

Knox County Medical Examiner Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan is testifying Friday on the torture the autopsies of the victims’ bodies revealed in the Letalvis Cobbins murder trial. (SNIP) Dr. Mileusnic-Polchan described bruising indicating that Newsom was raped with an object, probably hours before he was killed. Dr. Mileusnic-Polchan said Christian’s bound body was “crammed” in five large trash bags in a trash can in the kitchen. She was bound so tightly her knees were touching her cheeks. Christian was alive when she was put in the trash can. “She died in the trash can,” Dr. Mileusnic-Polchan testified. The cause was lack of oxygen. [Four black guys torture, rape then brutally murdered a white couple but no ‘hate’ charges were filed…ed]

‘No colors allowed’ causes controversy

The Knot Hole has been around for years, but a few months ago the owner put up a signs that reads, “Please notice, no colors allowed. Thank you.” It got the attention of a NewsChannel 36 viewer, who asked to be identified only as “Jane.” “At first looking at it I was offended, and then after that I got kind of angry,” said Jane. A few days ago Jane, who is of Asian descent, and some girlfriends headed to the bar for a drink and the sign stopped her in her tracks. [This is what happens when dopes don’t stop and think before getting all emotional…ed]

Seller, beware: Feds cracking down on garage sales

If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products. The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that’s been recalled by its manufacturer. [More control over our lives by the federal government. Need a job? You too can work for the government scanning Craigslist ads for scofflaws selling children’s clothes and toys…ed]

History’s first draft: Newt Gingrich but no liberals

Texas high school students would learn about such significant individuals and milestones of conservative politics as Newt Gingrich and the rise of the Moral Majority — but nothing about liberals — under the first draft of new standards for public school history textbooks. And the side that got left out is very unhappy. As it stands, students would get “one-sided, right wing ideology,” said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, chairman of the House Mexican American Caucus. [As opposed to what Fischer? Decades of one sided liberal garbage, where the Founding Fathers of this country are all portrayed as racist white men? Where minorities are always being portrayed as victims of those aforementioned white bigots? You jackass liberals are all alike. You run your whiny ass mouths day and night, but you just can’t take it when left out of the conversation. Worthless hairballs…ed]

U.S. issues alert on Mexico travel

The U.S. State Department is warning Americans to stay away from President Felipe Calderon’s home state of Michoacan, where drug-cartel members killed 18 federal agents last month. The alert issued yesterday does not recommend against traveling to Mexico but says violence has prompted the U.S. Embassy to urge Americans to delay unnecessary travel to Michoacan and the border state of Chihuahua, where two Americans were abducted and killed in July. The department says Americans traveling in those areas should exercise extreme caution. [Like I need Hillary Clinton to tell me to stay the hell out of Mexico…ed]

Turning Uncle Sam into Peeping Tom

Buried in the 1,017 pages of the House Democrats’ health-care bill is a little-noticed provision that for the first time could give the government access to the checking or credit-card information of every American. Under section 163, which is entitled “Administrative Simplification,” the bill sets new “standards” for electronic transactions between individuals and their health-care providers. (SNIP) The required collection of such data is unprecedented. At no other time has the government sought to collect this type of financial information from everyone in America. [Gee maybe this is another reason the citizens of this country want nothing to do with Obamacare…ed]

Introducing the Tenth Amendment

As gratifying as the results of the popular uproar over Obama-Care have been, so too, distressing has been the level and substance of arguments used by a populace on the right side of things. Town Hall Meeting cries of “I want my country back!” and ” No to death panels!” may stir the passions of us right-wing extremists but the dearth of meaningful follow-up betrays, it is to be feared, a distinct misreading of the extent of actual conservative sentiment. [Another great read from American Thinker…ed]

The Perspective Of A Russian Immigrant

In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, I was taught to believe individual pursuits are selfish and sacrificing for the collective good is noble. In kindergarten we sang songs about Lenin, the leader of the Socialist Revolution. In school we learned about the beautiful socialist system, where everybody is equal and everything is fair; about ugly capitalism, where people are exploited and treat each other like wolves in the wilderness. Life in the USSR modeled the socialist ideal. God-based religion was suppressed and replaced with cultlike adoration for political figures. [Wow, this crap is exactly what the left wingers want for our country…ed]

Zogby: Obama Hits Record Low in Poll

President Barack Obama’s popularity has plummeted to a record low, with just 45 percent of voters now approving of his performance, according to the latest Zogby International poll. Asked whether they approve or disapprove of the president’s job performance, just 45.3 percent of likely voters say they approve. That compares with 50.5 percent who disapprove of the job Obama is doing. The results are a strong indication that contentious national debate over healthcare reform has taken a major toll on the president’s popularity. [Obama’s poll numbers continue to take a swan dive. Congress pushes government run healthcare through using reconciliation his numbers will match his shoe size in short order…ed]

Quote of the day.

There’s something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee-wee’d up. I don’t know what it is.

-Barack Obama, a 150 day veteran of Washington DC says while speaking to a group of his supporters.