The wonderful British Health Service

Whenever liberals talk about health care reform, they almost always talk about 2 Utopian societies: Canada and Great Britain.

Well, apparently the British Health Service has decided that a 108 year old woman deserves a new hearing aid. BUT, she has to wait 18 months before she will qualify for it. I guess in the grand scheme of things, 18 months is nothing for a woman who has lived thru 1296+ months!!!!!

This really sounds like something to which we as Americans should aspire.

As reported in The Guardian, July 30th, 2007.

Another thing that gets on my nerves...

Another concept that really gets on my nerves is the current trend of replacing the terms "A.D." and "B.C" with "CE" and "BCE". AD stands for "anno domini" and BC for "before Christ." CE is "common era" and BCE is "before common era."

The progressive establishment doesn't like the idea that Jesus Christ is used to determine which year it is, so they hope that by replacing the old terminology with more politically correct versions, people won't be offended by the mere thought of His name.

But they forget one thing. The change from BCE to CE still takes place at the same time as the change from BC to AD. Therefore, Jesus Christ is still the reference point! Yes, it's true that we don't really know what year Christ was born, but that doesn't change the fact that 2007 AD is 2007 AD. If they really want to wipe out the memory of Christ, they should pick another historic reference point, and make that the changing point. Like maybe the birth of a non-religious, progressive idol; such as Mao, Stalin, Pot or Hitler.

(The image is Raphael's "The Granduca Madonna", painted in 1505)

Renewable sources of energy...

If you've ever read any of my rants, you know I am not a tree-hugger. But I really like the idea of curtailing our oil addiction. I have no problem at all with the idea of "renewable" sources of energy.

But the term "renewable" gets on my nerves. There is NOTHING renewable about solar or wind energy. We cannot do a danged thing to renew sunlight or the wind. Ethanol is renewable. We can replant corn or switch grass or whatever, year after year. We can't affect by one little bit the fusion taking place on the sun.

They used to call non-petroleum sources of fuel "alternative energy." I don't know why that term became politically incorrect. But in my mind, it's a much better choice of words.

Do you speak Yankee or Dixie

This is a great quiz to take. It's worth the 5 or so minutes it takes to complete.

Click here, y'all!

The ultimate Progressive song...

"The Trees"

Words by Neil Peart, music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson





There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw

Good news for Fatty's like me...

According to the holy temple of secular humanism (ie, the government) being fat ain't so bad. A study by the CDC and the National Cancer Institute found that people who are overweight DO NOT DIE at greater rates than skinny people. In fact, being overweight (BMI of 25-30) actually causes 138,281 fewer deaths! Only for the obese (BMI >35) did the rate of death increase; even then ,only in the rates of death from heart disease and cancer increased. All other causes of death were stable or decreased in that group.

The authors of this study, Katherine Flegal, found that 95,422 deaths were attributable to severe obesity. BUT, she also found that 46,398 deaths were attributable to people who were TOO THIN!!!!! That's just under half the deaths compared to the gravimetrically gifted!!


Why wasn't this front page, breaking news? Because it's against the media's agenda. And because no one has yet figured out who to sue for skinny people.

Slippery Slope

We are travelling down a very dangerous road with a very slippery slope, now, when it comes to the very ideas on which this country was founded. One of the things that separates this country from the rest of the world is our security in the notion that we cannot be forced to do something we find to be against our conscience. I remember a saying I heard growing up, "this is a free country, ain't it?".

That may be changing. There is a growing trend in this country to force people to do certain things "for the public good." The latest controversy involves the medical use of estrogen and progesterone. The "morning after" pills in question are high dose hormone pills that keep a fertilized egg from attaching to the wall of the uterus. If this newly fertilized egg( called a blastocyst) cannot attach to the wall of the uterus, it will not be able to further divide and ultimately become a viable pregnancy.

Many people, rightly or wrongly, find this to be tantamount to abortion. In Washington state, a law was passed to FORCE pharmacists to dispense this medication to women, regardless of their personal moral beliefs.

Those who wish to force the issue are concerned that, if pharmacists can refuse to deal with "morning after" pills, what's to stop them from refusing other medication, like birth control in general or Viagra to single men?

This is the slippery slope I'm concerned about. Personally, I believe that an independent,private individual MUST have the right to refuse to perform an action they hold to be morally objectionable. If he (or she) can be forced to do this one, small thing, I'm afraid the government will snowball this. What else can the government force us to do, in the name of the "public good?"

In my state of Tennessee, they passed a law making it illegal to smoke in public buildings. On the surface of it, I love this law. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke. I've heard people say on the radio here that that's as far as the ban can possibly go. "They" could never come into our homes to ban smoking. Well, in California, it's now illegal in many places to smoke in your own apartment. In New Jersey, they are proposing making it illegal to smoke in your car. Again, I like the concept of this law, especially when it comes to small children.

But where will these laws end? What else will the bureaucrats in Washington, or Nashville, or Sacramento, or Trenton, be able to make us do???????

A great interview with the sensational Paul Potts.

Real American Hero

No matter what you think of him, you've got to admit that John McCain is a real American hero!!!