Andy McKee

If you like the sound of a guitar, this guy is awesome. I don't know what you call his playing style, but it's incredible to listen to.

skidela-beebop-weebop-scoobie-doo

In case you are feeling down today, check this out!

Universal Health Care Scam

Whenever I hear people talking about “Universal Health Care (UHC)”, my skin begins to crawl. The repeated canard that the American system is far inferior to the socialist systems of the UK or Canada just falls flat on its face when faced with the facts. UHC doesn’t lead to access to the doctor, it just leads to access to waiting lists.

According to CBSnews.com on March 20th, 2005, in Canada, it takes about 3 months to get an electrocardiogram (commonly known as an EKG). Three months. For a test that takes FIVE MINUTES to perform, and even quicker to be interpreted. It takes 3 years to have surgery to correct torn knee ligaments.

In an effort to try to improve waiting times, the Canadian government has come up with some “guidelines” for acceptable waits. To get your knee replaced, you should only have to wait 26 weeks. And if you need cardiac bypass surgery, the most you should wait is, again, only 26 weeks. And these are the government supported wait times. A US citizen would sue their doctor and everyone else in the room if they were told they had to wait 26 days for bypass.

Another common myth about socialized medicine is that it is free. In the same article by CBSNews.com, it is revealed that Canadians pay 48% income tax. That means that if you make $40,000.00 a year, you have to pay $19,200.00 in taxes. Thus you only actually get to have $20,800.00 to pay for EVERYTHING you want to buy, including your mortgage. I don’t think people fully comprehend this fact.

Yet another myth is that Emergency Room visits would be decreased if only the USA had universal health care. It is assumed by the media that being uninsured increases the usage of ERs. However, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, one out of five people in Ontario went to the ER at least once within a twelve month period. That’s 20 percent. And, nearly half of all infants (48%) were seen in the ER during 2003-2004. Of this multitude of visits, over half were for NON-EMERGENT conditions like chronic back pain and sore throats.

Another blow to socialized medicine...

While our presidential candidates are all coming up with ways to socialize medicine here in the USA, the "great" Canadian system is showing us why socialized medicine doesn't work. A liberal Canadian politician, Belinda Stronach, had to come to the United States for surgery to treat her breast cancer. I'm thrilled that this lady was able to get the best treatment available. But if the Canadian system is sooo good, why would she need to travel here?

Dave Ramsey is my hero...

Our central heating and air system died yesterday. It was 99 degrees upstairs last night when our son tried to go to sleep. Thanks to years of being brainwashed by Dave Ramsey, we have an emergency fund in the bank. We are getting a new American Standard unit installed today, and it's paid for with cash. What a concept!!

Thanks Dave!!!

Nessun Dorma: No one sleeps

In case anyone was wondering about an English translation of Nessun Dorma, the song that won the world over to Paul Potts, here are the words in both Italian and English:



Nessun dorma
Nessun dorma,
nessun dorma ...
Tu pure, o Principessa,
Nella tua fredda stanza,
Guardi le stelle
Che tremano d'amore
E di speranza.

Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
Il nome mio nessun saprà, no, no,
Sulla tua bocca,
io lo dirò
Quando la luce
splenderà.

Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
Che ti fa mia.

Il nome suo nessun saprà
E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir...

Dilegua, notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!
Vincerò!
Vincerò!


Giacomo Puccini
(1858-1924)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No One Sleeps
English Version of "Nessun Dorma"


No one sleeps!
No one sleeps!
Even you, oh princess,
in your cold room,
look at the stars
that tremble with love
and hope!

But my mystery
it is locked in me.
And my name,
no one will know!
No, no!

On your mouth
I will say it,
when the light
will shine!

And my kiss will break the silence,
that makes you mine!

choir:
His name no one will know...
And we shall have, alas, to die, to die...!

Disperse, o night!
Vanish, oh stars!
Vanish, oh stars!

At daybreak, I will win!
I will win!
I will win!

Pavarotti è guasto

Pavarotti died today. His family was able to be there with him at the time. God Bless you, Pavarotti!!!

Pavarotti is very ill

In light of my recent discovery of Paul Potts, I was saddened to read today about the serious illness of one of the greatest voices in the history of man - Luciano Pavarotti.

He has been ill for some time now, suffering from pancreatic cancer and its complications. Apparently now he is in a coma from kidney failure.

We are only on this planet for a short time, but the world was made a better place by the man known around the world simply by his last name: Pavarotti.

Paul Potts

I can't believe I've just now heard this guy sing. His name is Paul Potts, and he was the winner of 2007's "Britain's Got Talent."

Even if you are not a fan of opera, you will be brought to tears by his amazing voice. This may not be the best version of "Nessun Dorma", but it's up there!

His story is very touching as well. Of course, the world if full of people who hate to see anybody succeed. There are already people out there saying that he isn't genuine. Let those sad, sad critics cry themselves to sleep. You will love this guy!!!

Carbon Offsets

On September 2, 2007, the LA Times ran an interesting article about the effectiveness of (or lack of ) buying carbon offsets. The LA Times is hardly a bastion of right wing extremism.

In short, carbon offsets provide no real offset at all, at least for the next decade. It is a good way, though, for people to get rich off other people's guilt.

In addition, the August 4, 2007, issue of World magazine uses a great term for people's reliance on this concept: "checkbook environmentalism."

Don't get me wrong. I love the idea of getting power from ANYTHING besides mid-east oil. But I don't buy for one minute that my giving some company a couple of hundred bucks in any way will decrease global warming.

Misc

A couple of things in the news today caught my eye.

The first is the resignation of White House press secretary Tony Snow. I like this guy. I admire the way he has faced his cancer. I love the fact that he knows he is a role model for other cancer patients in the world. He is intelligent, funny, and telegenic. However, the reason he gave for leaving office sorta bothers me. He stated that he was leaving because he was "running out of money." I googled the Press Secretary's salary, and it was $161,000.00 back in 2005. I know he lives in the DC area and it's expensive there. But surely 161-K/year is enough money.

Second, the attorney who was involved with the Duke University Lacrosse rape case is dirty. He lied during the trial, and he almost destroyed those innocent boys' lives. He is a scumbag and deserved to get his license revoked. However, today he was sentenced to a whopping 1 day in jail!! One whole day. For being purposefully deceitful. Maybe he'll get to read the same Bible that Michael Vick and Paris Hilton got to use. Come on!!!

Bad news on the adoption front

We got a call today from our adoption agency (Children's Hope International). They were just calling to touch base with us and see if we needed anything. Unfortunately, they also had some bad news. It looks like it's taking longer and longer for China to process the adoptions. The wait time when we filed our paperwork was 15 months. It's now 21 months, and they anticipate it may get to 30-36 months. Which means that all of our paperwork will expire waaaaay before we get to go to China. We'll have to repeat almost all of it, and of course it'll cost us a couple of grand more.

CRAP!

Dolphins in the news again

A species of dolphin thought previously extinct has been spotten in China. I guess it didn't get the memo about leaving the planet!!

...thanks for all the fish

Scientists are concerned about the dolphin population in the north Atlantic's Bay of Biscay. Apparently, over the past year, the witnessed dolphin population has dropped by 80%.

These scientists are frantic over this dilemma. They think the mammals might be getting accidentally killed by commercial fishermen. Or maybe it's because we are destroying the fish population by overfishing.

However, they seem to be missing the most obvious cause. As diligently reported by Douglas Adams over 20 years ago, they dolphins have simply left the planet.

If you haven't read the "Hitchhiker" books, pick up the entire series and read them now, before it's too late. And don't forget your towel!!!

I knew it would happen.

I knew it would happen. When Google Earth announced it was using satellite imaging to map the entire planet, liberals everywhere shouted for glee. When it was discovered that not only could you see your "house from here", you could count the hairs on your neighbors back, very few people seemed alarmed. Especially that bastion of liberal hope, the ACLU.

But God forbid, when the government decides to use that technology to fight terrorism, the ACLU is back!

The New York Times is reporting today that the ACLU and its ilk are concerned that the agencies using this technology "could not be trusted to supervise themselves." But GOOGLE could???

Now, don't get me wrong. I do NOT like even GOOGLE looking at my house, much less Big Brother. I don't want anyone to have this technology. But it's here none-the-less. Besides, I actually trust that the government won't allow public access to images like this.

Global Warming Mania

Why are so many people in our society so convinced that global warming is the end of the world? Why do they just scream and holler when they are confronted with evidence against man-made warming? They'd rather insult you and your mother than actually debate you on facts. It's fairly typical of the liberal left..."If you don't agree with me, then you are a big, mean dummy!!!"

On July 26th, 2007, Fox News.com ran an article about Nevada having record high temperatures. They even quoted a Stephen Rowland, Professor of Geology at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is reported as saying, "the scientific evidence of global warming is incontrovertible, and Nevada is feeling the heat more intensely than most of the rest of the U.S." However, a quick check of the NOAA website shows quite clearly that the average high temperatures were higher in the 1940's than they have been since then. Does that mean that Man was emitting more carbon 60 years ago than she is today? And, just as a side note, the population of Clark County Nevada was about 100 times less back then than it is now.

Also, you may have heard that 1998 was the warmest year on record. Probably the warmist year in 1 million years!!! Well, folks, that was wrong. While the media blasted that info over the airwaves, they don't seem to be giving the correction much air time. It seems that NASA miscalculated their numbers a while back. Actually, 1998 was the SECOND warmest ever. In reality, the warmest year on record was 1934. Wasn't that just a bit before the SUV's were taking over the universe? And the third warmest year must have been after 1998,right? Wrong. Try 1921. In fact, 5 of the 10 warmest years on record now all occur before the Second World War.

And, while I admit that this does not disprove global warming, it sure is a blow to all the global warming alarminsts out there.

Scooter "Pardon"

First of all, Scooter Libby was not pardoned. His sentence was commuted. While Mr Obama and others on the Left may claim this is the type of politics that we much change, it is enshrined in our constitution that the Chief executive can commute sentences, in addition to straight pardons. And lest we forget, the superhero of the left, President Clinton, pardoned plenty of scumbags. See the official Department of Justice website for his list.

Autism & Vaccines

Here we go again. Parents of children with autism are asking judges to decide whether or not vaccines are the cause of autism. Now don't get me wrong. I really feel for these parents. Autism in it's extreme forms can be incredibly difficult to deal with. But study after study after study have NOT found any correlation between thimerosal and autism.

So, much like global warming and the other liberal causes-de-jour, if you can't prove it via science, let the courts decide. After all, a judge did go to law school, right? Which of course makes him or her imminently qualified to decide delicate scientific distinctions.

Global Cooling

A new ice age is upon us. Where's AlGore now? Why isn't this information plastered on the front pages of every newspaper and newscast in the country?

It seems that the month of April, 2007, was the 47th coolest in 113 years!!! A massive 0.3 degrees F colder than the average for the entire 20th century!!! If only I could find a way to display a completely distorted graph or pie chart (like the rest of the media does) to stress the importance of this information!!

Get out your parkas!!!

Democracy Inaction

This is embarrassing. Our fair city of Jackson, TN, just has the first election for a new City Mayor in almost 20 years when no incumbent was running. Everything was up for grabs. And, I just heard on WNWS, 101.5 FM, that less than 20 percent of the voters turned out. I don't know if that number is final, but it sure stinks.

Even the FRENCH turn out more voters. Over 80% of their potential voters showed up to vote for a new President. Now, mind you, a presidential election gets out more people that a small town Mayor. BUT COME ON PEOPLE!!! Don't complain when you don't like what Jerry Gist is doing if you didn't bother to take 20 minutes to vote!!!