5 Year Blog Anniversary

I missed my own blog anniversary. First post, March 10, 2005.

The Republican Plan to Destroy President Obama

You can read the whole thing here, but this is what stands out:

The GOP game is as simple as it is hypocritical. First: Reject every Democratic proposal — including some of the exact same initiatives that Republicans championed under Bush — while branding the consensus-seeking Obama as a radical leftist. Second: Stoke populist fury over exploding deficits, even though they're the fallout of eight catastrophic years of Republican rule. (President Bush inherited a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion and left behind a forecasted deficit of $3 trillion.) Three: Promise to fix what's wrong with Washington — despite having waged an all-out war to make government appear as broken as possible.

Wait for the Senate reconciliation vote on health care reform. All of a sudden Republicans are going to start supporting ideas that Democrats want removed from the Senate version of the health care bill. Republicans now want to make sure those items in the bill they were complaining about last week.....remain in the bill. The whole idea, of course, is to keep those special handouts to Florida and Nebraska in the Bill, so they can continue to complain about them.

Disgusting.

FOX News - Nonpartisan and Fair

Decide for yourself.

Why Do Americans Have So Much Hate?

Here are the tea baggers upset with a man with Parkinson's disease. No hand outs here, you have to work for what everything you "git". No compassion whatsoever.



Teabaggers kind of remind me of the residents of South Park.

Mumps

Mumps is a contagious disease caused by infection with a virus which belongs to the genus Paramyxovirus. The most common symptom of mumps is swollen parotid glands which are the large salivary glands located anterior and inferior to the ear. The mumps virus can be transmitted via the respiratory route (coughing), kissing, and contact with saliva. The virus also survives for short period on surfaces and can be spread by contact.



The incubation period for the mumps virus is 14-25 days with a 3-5 day prodromal period. Involvement of the of the central nervous system is common, but often asymptomatic in children. CNS involvement rarely manifests itself as encephalitis in adults. Shedding of virus in the saliva begins about 6 days prior to onset of symptoms and continues for another 5-9 days.

In postpubertal males, inflammation of the testicles occurs in about 50% of those infected. Sterility rarely results but testicular atrophy is more common.

The mumps virus can also infect the pancreas resulting in the disturbance of endocrine and exocrine functions. This can result in diabetic manifestations and has been hypothesized to be a cause of juvenile insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

The mumps paramyxovirus is enveloped and consists of a single negative sense segment of RNA, 15-19 kb in length containing 6-10 genes. More information on the genome of the mumps virus can be found here.



Mumps can be serologically diagnosed using ELISA to detect mumps-specific antibodies or using RT polymerase chain reaction to detect viral particles in the saliva.

Treatment consists of bed rest and over-the-counter drugs to relieve pain. Aspirin should not be taken, especially in those below the age of 20 due to a link to Reye Syndrome.

Good Question for Journalists

Why has our profession, through its general silence -- or only spasmodic protest -- helped Fox legitimize a style of journalism that is dishonest in its intellectual process, untrustworthy in its conclusions and biased in its gestalt?

Howell Raines

My Proposed Budget Plans

You have to admire the courage of Rep. Paul Ryan's roadmap to fiscal sanity. The guy is actually willing to propose privatizing social security, cutting medicare and cutting taxes (mostly for the rich...see above chart). No wonder other Republicans aren't coming out of the woodwork supporting his propsals. But, he sort of has the right idea.

Here are my budget proposals. First, cut the defense budget 100 billion dollars a year. We spend more on defense than most of the rest of the world combined.

Second, institute a war tax to pay for our ongoing wars. It should be a tax that completely covers waging two wars. Then let's see how much support American's have for those wars.

Third, raise the retirement age at which you can draw full social security. It was raised some time ago to 66. If that one year age increase made such a big difference, an increase to age 67 should be helpful. Also, increase the amount of salary that is taxed for social security.

Fourth, Medicare.....Institute Medicare for all (single-payer). Most of the developed (and even some of the undeveloped) world has done this sucessfully. Why spend so much money on defending our fearful population from terrorist attacks when thousands are dying every year from lack of adequate health care.

Fifth, institute an immediate program to increase the number of college graduates in the USA. Our country is rapidly falling behind as the "go to" country for science and engineering. We need a plan like those put in place after WWII and after the Soviets launched Sputnik.

Conservative Dictionary

It's been pretty clear, the last few years, that there are things conservative lawmakers are allowed to do which democratic lawmakers are not allowed to do. Maybe making and adding to a consevative political lexicon would be fun.

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly's "Political Animal" helps gets us started.

"Obstructionism," for example, only refers to Democratic minorities opposing Republican proposals.

"Tyranny" is found when an elected Democratic majority passes legislation that Republicans don't like.

"Reconciliation" describes a Senate process that Republicans are allowed to use to overcome Democratic "obstructionism."

"Terrorism" refers to acts of political violence committed by people who aren't white guys.

"Bipartisanship" is found when Democrats agree to pass Republican legislation.

"Big government" describes a dangerous phenomenon to be avoided, except in cases relating reproductive rights or gays.

"Treason" refers to Democrats criticizing a Republican administration during a war.

"Patriotism" refers to Republicans criticizing a Democratic administration during a war.

"Fiscal responsibility" is a national priority related to keeping our budget in check, which only applies when Republicans are in the minority.

"Parliamentarian" is a seemingly independent official on the Hill who Senate Republicans are allowed to fire when the GOP disapproves of his/her rulings.

Charles Krauthammer - Smart, but a liar

My favorite disingenuous conservative editorial opinion writer is at it again today. I didn't realize, until this morning, that Charles Krauthammer is actually a Harvard Medical school grad and is board certified in psychiatry. So he has the training to lie convincingly to his readers.

In "Onward with Obamacare, regardless", Krauthammer spews his conservative version of the facts on healthcare reform. "...a Blair House "summit" with Republicans, followed five days later with a few concessions tossed the Republicans' way."

A "few" concessions? The current HCR Bill is more Republican than it is progressive. Over 160 Republican amendments were accepted in the Senate version of the HCR Bill. Remember "single-payer health care"? Gone. Remember the "public option"? Gone. Remember "death panels"? Gone. A majority of people dislike the HCR Bill for two reasons. First, many progressives think the Bill doesn't go far enough, so they oppose it. Second, many, many people have bought into the Republican lies about the Bill so, of course, they oppose it.

Krauthammer goes on to write, "Unfortunately for Democrats, that seven-hour televised exercise had the unintended consequence of showing the Republicans to be not only highly informed on the subject, but also, as even Obama was forced to admit, possessed of principled objections..." Highly informed? Did Krauthammer even watch any of the health care summit? President Obama had to correct conservative "misconceptions" and "talking points" (let's face it...lies), time and time again.

For example, conservatives want health insurance to be sold across State lines. A good idea, but it wouldn't work without strong Federal insurance standards. Instead, we would get a race to the bottom in health care benefits. Besides, conservatives are opposed to interference of the Federal goverment with States rights.

Or how about the lie spewed by Rep. Joe Barton that "tort reform" would save us $150 billion a year? The Congressional Budget Office puts the figure closer to $5 billion. I'm sure Joe has a staffer that can find this article.

Krauthammer goes on to talk about ice cream, steaks and roses leading to the next conservative talking point. MEDICARE IS GOING TO BE CUT! This would be laughable if it weren't so sad. A conservative worried about cutting medicare. Sure, the Bill would take away $177 billion of government subsidies to insurance companies that participate in Medicare Advantage. But let's say there are cuts that are going to hurt Medicare. Haven't conservatives been telling us for years that we have to reduce government spending? Aren't conservatives opposed to "entitlements"? Were not conservatives initially opposed to the Medicare Bill?

Here's a good one from Krauthammer. "Well, yes. That has generally been the problem with democratic governance: cost. The disagreeable absence of a free lunch." Yep, you know those Democrats, they love to spend money. Unlike the years from 2000-2008 where we borrowed money to support fighting 2 wars, borrowed money to fund a huge Medicare drug benefit, borrowed money to fund "No child left behind" and borrowed money to fund 2 large tax cuts, mostly for the rich. And, let's not forget squandering a large budget surplus. Yes, you've convinced me that Democrats are the big spenders.

So the bastardized health care reform bill is going to cost $100 billion a year. But it's going to insure an additional 30 million people. It's going to prevent insurance company denying coverage to those with "pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies will not be able to drop you when you get sick. It does away with annual and lifetime limits on coverage. It requires that insurance companies spend at least 80% of every premium dollar on medical care. According to the CBO it would reduce the deficit (but remember, Reagan proved deficits don't matter).

Compare Records on Unemployment

Symphony of Science

Medical Malpractice and Republican Lies

Dick Durban sets Republicans straight on medical malpractice. He then asks those present if Federal health insurance and benefits are good enough for them, why aren't they good enough for the rest of the country?

I can answer that. If everyone was given the health insurance our congressional reps have.....someone, somewhere in the USA would be getting a benefit they don't deserve.

The US Spends Too Much on Foreign Aid

Ask any conservative and they will tell you that the USA spends too much on foreign aid. At 26 billion dollars, the US spends about twice as much as the United Kingdom or Germany. But the USA is a wealthy country, so where do we stand in amount of foreign aid as a percentage of GNP? Actually, not so great.

We Need Serious People

Remember the below quote? Seems pretty relevant to today's political gridlock.

We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it.

Just replace "Bob Rumson" with Mitch McConnell or John Boehner.

Party of Yes now Party of NO

How Republicans vote depends on who is President.

Increase budget deficit: under Bush vote Yes; now....No.
Increase government spending: under Bush vote Yes; now...No.
Pork is good: under Bush Yes; now No.
Increase government spending on Medicare: under Bush vote Yes; now...No.
Increase size of government: under Bush Yes; now...No.
Tax cuts for the average Joe: under Bush Yes (but mostly for the rich); now...No.

Let's Balance Your Sphenobasilar Junction!

I've recently learned about 2 types of "energy medicine". BodyTalk and Polarity Therapy.

Both of these "woo-based" scams involve "healing treatments" by manipulating some undetectible "energy field" in your body. I especially like Body Talk because it uses a gentle tapping on your body to "reestablish lines of communication" within your body. And, it looks like you can treat yourself. See the guy above rebalancing his sphenobasilar junction? And how, exactly, does your sphenobasilar junction get out of balance? How does the tapping rebalance the sphenobasilar junction?

Body Talk was discovered (invented?) by "Dr." John Veltheim, an Australian chiropractor (what a surprise). Dr. John is awarded "10 canards" on the Quackometer.

Body Talk, Polarity Therapy, Reiki, Therapeutic touch...there is not a dime's worth of difference among them. They all involve the practitioner manipulating undetectible body "energy fields" that science cannot measure. But training in just a few short sessions in the above techniques allows you to "see", "measure" or "manipulate" these fields to restore the health of the mark.

What in the world is happening to our country that we have a population of people who actually fall for this crap.

High Speed Rail - USA #2! If Only...

China will open 42 high speed railway lines in 2012. Europe already has a high speed rail system and is building more lines. And the mighty USA....well, we will hopefully open a high speed 84 mile rail line between Orlando and Tampa in 2014. A high speed rail line between Anaheim, CA and San Francisco should break ground shortly.

But guess who is building those rail lines in the US? Guess who will pay for a proposed maglev rail line between Anaheim and Las Vegas?

The USA currently has one high speed railway connecting Boston with NYC. It's average speed is 68 MPH (although it reaches 150 MPH for short stretches). A high speed railway in Germany speeds along at 205 MPH and has reached speeds up to 226 MPH. China has a maglev train that can reach 311 MPH but cruises at 268 MPH.

Yes, high speed rail is expensive to build at 20 million dollars per mile. The Federal interstate highway system was expensive too. But think of the jobs that would be created if the USA built high speed rail using US manufacturers and labor. Think of how much such a system would reduce our need to inport oil and as a side effect, benefit the climate.

Why are we unwilling to make such an investment? Why are we willing to sit around and exclaim how great we are as a nation, yet settle for 2nd place in so many areas? The rest of the world is leaving us in their dust because the average American is unwilling to make sacrifices for their country.

Conservatism and Spelling

John Kenneth Galbraith said "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

Leo C. Rosten said "A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead."

Mark Twain said "The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them."

P.J. O'Rouke said "The Democrats are the party of government activism, the party that says government can make you richer, smarter, taller, and get the chickweed out of your lawn. Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then get elected and prove it."

Will Rogers said "The 1928 Republican Convention opened with a prayer. If the Lord can see His way clear to bless the Republican Party the way it's been carrying on, then the rest of us ought to get it without even asking."

Woodrow Wilson said "A conservative is a man who sits and thinks, mostly sits."

John Stuart Mills said Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.

Let's discuss this last quote by John Stuart Mills. Are most stupid people conservative? I prefer the word "uneducated" rather than stupid. Are most uneducated people conservative? Better yet, are conservatives or liberals more likely to be stupid? What is the definition of "stupid"? "Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes" or " marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting" or "lacking in power to absorb ideas or impressions". By those definitions there are certainly stupid liberals and stupid conservatives.

But here is one thing I have noticed is a trend. Conservative people generally cannot spell. Go to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise website and click on any controversial article, letter or other topic. Then read the comments. That's ok, I'm not the greatest speller in the world either. But at least I make an attempt to insure my thoughts are clearly expressed (and that includes spelling). Also, conservative people who post on the ADE website obviously have a computer and access to the internet. They have a world of information at their fingertips. Why can't they use that information to write informed opinions (with correct spelling)?

These conservatives, who can't spell, are the same people posting comments about how our young people are poorly educated and cannot find good jobs.

The Placebo Effect

Can We Talk About Health Care? NO!

President Obama has proposed to Republicans that a bipartisan, televised discussion of healthcare reform take place on Feb. 25th. Guess who is very cool to that proposal? President Obama presented himself to Republicans in a televised question and answer period a couple weeks ago at a Republican retreat in Baltimore. It seems even the Republicans thought President Obama came out on top at that session.

So why can't we hear the conservative criticisms of healthcare reform and the answers the President has for those criticisms? Why don't Republicans want to do this in a public forum? Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) can ask his question publicly: "Did you lie about moving forward on malpractice reform?" I'd like to hear President Obama answer that question. I'd also like to hear about those death panels we've heard so much about or that evil board that will tell physcians what treatments they can and cannot use.

But there are several other topics that Republicans may not want brought into the public eye. Ezra Klein points out that six Republican ideas are already in the health care reform bill. And, there a many things that are not in the health care reform bill thanks to Republicans. Single payer is off the table. Public option is off the table. Medicare for those 55 and over...off the table.

Republicans do not have the stones to stand up the President on National TV and question him with the lies they've told about health care reform to the teabagger population. The fact of the matter is, Republicans do not want health care reform period.