by Art Lindsey III

President Obama declared Wednesday night on ABC News that without healthcare reform the federal government would go bankrupt.

“If we don’t pass it, here’s the guarantee: the people who are watching tonight, your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you. Potentially they’re going to drop your coverage, because they just can’t afford an increase of 25 percent, 30 percent in terms of the costs of providing health care to employees each and every year. “And the federal government will go bankrupt.”

Well, I’ve got news for the president and everybody else out there who hasn’t been paying attention:

The federal government is bankrupt. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t have to keep mortgaging our future to China and amassing a debt which has ballooned to an amount in the double-digit trillions. When you couple that with the printing rampage we’ve been on, how is it that anybody can say we will run out of money when we obviously already have? The motto of our government seems to be “Spend all you want, we’ll make more”.

Frankly, this has become a rather tiresome ruse. The idea that government knows anything about making or keeping businesses competitive is laughable. There isn’t a business on the planet that can compete with the federal government when it comes to resources.

Notice that “resources” is the key. No one is talking about quality, here. Everyone knows that the government is an inefficient, bumbling mess, no matter who is in charge, and it clearly doesn’t have to turn a profit. That alone makes it an unstoppable juggernaut. Businesses must turn a profit to survive. If they don’t, they go away. (Well, they used to before all the bailout junk started, but you get the idea.) The government seemly operates above all concepts of economics and logic, so in reality, President Obama’s argument is nothing short of a joke.

This whole discussion is rife with myths. Yes, there is a lot of money tied up in the medical insurance industry. But the truth is that people always look at the wrong number. While the large, zero-laden numbers look good at the end of the day, they don’t really mean anything. The number that everybody seems to ignore when they decide to demonize a particular business is that of the profit margin.

Now, in case you don’t know, the profit margin or the medical insurance industry is about two percent. Knowing that, there is no way an unbiased observer of the situation could accuse the medical insurance industry of being anti-competitive. A two percent profit margin would just be barely keeping one’s head above water.

If the federal government was so into competition in business why doesn’t it do more to relieve the financial burdens on businesses, like slashing our inflated corporate tax, and/or eliminating the capital gains tax? Furthermore, in the case of health care, why can’t our health policies be made portable, and why Americans buy a policy in any state that they choose? This would drastically expand every company’s potential client pool, and because of that, logic dictates that prices will come down. This is a basic component of our market economy. However, it has become quite clear that our government has no interest in that.

Isn’t it interesting how the Obama administration constantly touts job creation, yet it is hell-bent on interfering with an industry which makes up about one-sixth of our economy? Health care insurance providers will be unable to compete with a bureaucratic monolith that can continually give itself a blank check with which to operate. The private companies will fail, which will put many people out of work. Wait a minute. What about all that ‘job creation’ that Obama is so good at? Perhaps the only ones that really count in his mind are handful of prison guard jobs that will be created when he moves the Gitmo detainees to Illinois. Who knows at this point?

Continuing on, when you put a lot of people out of work, a domino-effect begins. They have to file for unemployment, which is funded by taxpayers. However, that’s just a tiny part of it. The real damage begins when the reality of this program begins to take hold. Providing quality, universal healthcare for a nation of over 300 million people is a financial impossibility, especially when you factor in our government’s penchant for waste. The tax burden required to feed the beast will balloon out of control, and the end result will be that corporations and workers will be so badly shackled by the government that the drive to produce will be lost. If such a thing ever happens, its game over, people. Welcome to the collapse of the United States of America.

All of that aside, the true answer to this manufactured “crisis” is personal responsibility. The fact is that most of the uninsured could obtain a health insurance policy at a reasonable price if they wanted to. Quality policies are available at prices less than $100 a month, and can be shopped for and purchased online as we speak. While it is true that the American health industry could be streamlined, the government certainly has no clue how to do it. Furthermore, the true hindrance in the situation isn’t the providers. It’s the Americans who are too irresponsible to take care of themselves.

Until that changes, nothing good will happen.

So, here we are on the verge of a national health care system. It’s the subject that has dominated the news cycle and been at the heart of nearly every political debate in America since Barack Obama decided to make it the centerpiece of his 2008 presidential campaign.

We’ve been preoccupied with the indications of rationing, not to mention the unsustainable budgetary numbers of it all. Honestly, with all this data being thrown about, one can be certain that it’s nearly impossible for everyday Americans to even begin to take the time to grasp it all.

However, that notwithstanding, from what Americans have been able to grasp just enough of what’s going on as congress attempts to slip this under our collective noses, and the consensus seems to be pretty clear:

Americans do not want socialized medicine.

Now, there is no point in going on and on at this point about congress not listening to us or some such thing. There is no lesson to be learned there, as it is fairly obvious at this point. Truth be told, we should be pointing the finger at ourselves.

Think back to the 2006 midterms, where the rallying cry across the conservative voting landscape was, “Throw the Republicans out! Teach them a lesson!”

Of course, considering how much of the GOP had softened on conservative principles, it is understandable how this sentiment could take hold. Every day, it seemed as though another conservative luminary just couldn’t wait to bash the GOP, deservedly or not, and say what a boon it would be for the party and the conservative movement if the Republicans lost in November of 2006.

As I just said, I can understand that line of thinking. I’m just as much for true conservatism in the Republican Party as anybody else, but in every conversation I ever had on the notion of the GOP losing its majority in ’06, I kept coming back to one simple mantra:

You can’t teach a “lesson” to career politicians. These people are like cats. They always land on their feet. If you boot them out, they’ll find a cushy analyst job on a cable network or go on a book or speaking tour, where they can make even more money than they already do.

So, knowing that we had a Democrat Party that is as close to socialist as America has, or is likely to ever see, it was clear to this conservative that while it sure sounded good to spend election day smacking around Republicans, we would be the ones who would pay a very steep price for the lesson that we intended to teach.

As we all know, voters got what they wished for, and the GOP lost by sizeable margins, and as I had feared, our economy, our healthcare system, and our defense efforts are now on death’s doorstep. Meanwhile, despite what we want, politicians from both parties continue to ignore us, and charge on with their own agendas.

The American electorate needs to learn that elections matter. It needs to turn off American Idol pay attention, and say informed. This is what happens when it doesn’t.

If anything, our last two elections should teach a lesson to the American people. Politicians will always be politicians. They’ll look out for themselves before they ever look out for any of us. The only defense we have is to do our best to educate ourselves, and hopefully pick the ones best suited for upholding our ideas and traditions. In order to do that, we must remain engaged at all costs.

Maybe it will be better in the long run for the conservative movement when this is all said and done. Many of us, me included, certainly hope that it is. But, with a government apparatus that is moving America away from its founding principles faster than any time in history, the burden American electorate unwittingly placed on itself may prove to be too much to bear, and the “lesson” that some thought they were so wisely teaching may be nothing more than a prime example of “Too little, too late”.

Let’s hope not.

Oy.

A deaf teenager has won a landmark discrimination case after she was humiliated on sports day because she could not hear announcements telling her to stop running, it has emerged.

Laura Trudgill, 13, is profoundly deaf but was not provided with an individual signer on sports day to help her understand the complicated rules of 24 team activities.

She stood when the rest of the school sat, ran when others stopped and did activities incorrectly because she could not hear the teacher telling her she was wrong.

The event was designed to forge bonds between deaf and hearing pupils but led to deep embarrassment for Laura who became an object of fun.

So the school, which went out of its way to hold an even bringing deaf and hearing students together, has been found at fault here for “humiliating” this girl.

A special education needs and disability tribunal (Sendist) found Colman Middle School, in Norwich, had unlawfully discriminated against Laura.

Laura’s mother Karen Park, 35, and dad Gary Trudgill, 50, of Norwich, fought the case with the backing of the National Deaf Children’s Society (NCDS).

Karen, a part-time volunteer for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, said: ‘Laura might as well have been lumped in with a load of Russians on sports day.

‘The effect would’ve been the same - she wouldn’t have had any idea what was going on.

No word from the Russians as to whether they will sue for discrimination at that remark.

So lemme get this straight: The school holds an inclusiveness exercise, and then is found guilty of “unlawful discrimination” - a crime, if you will. All because some deaf chick had a bad day. Puh-lease, if I sued everyone involved every time I had a bad day, I’d be Warren freakin’ Kinsella!

Used to be a time when other countries made fun of the USA for its litigiousness. Those days are soooo gone. The United States now seems to be the only country where you can’t sue for hurt feelings.

This is a more difficult post to write than the last one. This one means a wake up for me and many others who so far have managed to treat world events as academic. The realm of debate and moral and ethical games.

Israel has retaliated against Gaza by air strikes against military targets and limiting civilian damage to the best of its capabilities. Many posts will argue the rights and wrongs of it so no need for more of that here. I’m sure the vast vast majority have already made up their minds as to who is right and wrong and why.

I am writing on another aspect. Strategy and outcome.

So far, Islamist forces world wide (and Gaza is no exception) have overwhelmingly chosen to go after the softest targets possible and the ones which would garner the most outrage and horror. It is not at all unusual for example, for a Palestinian receiving free and excellent medical care in Israel to return to the hospital wrapped in explosives with hopes of murdering the very doctors nurses and destruction of the facilities which had treated her. We also have seen attacks going back decades in Argentina, France, and recently Bombay targeting Jews with no strategic value whatsoever but because they are Jews. More recently, The UK, Germany Scandinavia and frankly much of Europe where Muslims are moving in large numbers in the past year has seen anti semitic violent attacks grow.

Hamas will ‘retaliate’ (I put retaliate of course in quotes as the Israeli action was in fact retaliation for over 800 rockets fired at Israeli civilians over the past few years most of which was during an agreed ‘cease fire’) as will Hizbolah, Al Queda/Taliban and any number of Islamic groups which as usual will create a new name for themselves for each attack by targeting easy to access unsuspecting targets of Jews. It could as easily be Ottawa as Bombay or Pembrook Ontario as London England or Ipswich Mass. as easily as Madrid Spain. The only thing these attacks will have in common, will be that it is against Jewish people.

If you live as a Jew in most western nations, it is against the law to arm yourself. not just for jews of course but for all. The police or more likely politicians would prefer you get killed cleanly and quickly then get the police and ambulance to the scene so City councils can show how efficient they are. Outside of small pockets of the USA where there is still some sense of individual right to life and self defense this is the norm. However given the history of Islamic terrorist movements and the ascendancy of same, the moral relativism of the modern left who dominate the civil service of most western nations and the consequent ethical ambiguousness which has made terrorists the victims and victims the aggressors, Jewish people may want to start thinking about their own security. Predicting the future at some levels is imposable. At others is as easy as looking at the past.

Let’s have a look at what the official reaction has been from various bodies in order to better understand how officialdom may react to the deaths of Jews by Muslim attackers in their own cities and nations.

Here I borrow heavily from the excellent site, The Gates of Vienna…

Spokesman For Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General

“The secretary general is deeply alarmed by today’s heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel.

“[He] appeals for an immediate halt to all violence [and reiterates] previous calls for humanitarian supplies to be allowed into Gaza to aid the distressed civilian population.”

Gordon Johndroe, White House Spokesman

“Hamas’ continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease if the violence is to stop. Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people.

“The United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza.”

Spokesman For Javier Solana, EU Foreign Policy Chief

“We are very concerned at the events in Gaza. We call for an immediate ceasefire and urge everybody to exert maximum restraint.”

British Foreign Office Statement

“The only way to achieve lasting peace in Gaza is through peaceful means. Whilst we understand the Israeli government’s obligation to protect its population we urge maximum restraint to avoid further civilian casualties.

“We also call on militants in the Gaza Strip to immediately cease all rocket attacks on Israel.”

Russian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Moscow considers it necessary to stop large-scale military action against Gaza, which has already led to major casualties and suffering among the civilian Palestinian population.

“At the same time, we call on the Hamas leadership to stop shelling Israeli territory.”

Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary General

“We are facing a continuing spectacle which has been carefully planned. So we have to expect that there will be many casualties. We face a major humanitarian catastrophe.”

Syrian Foreign Ministry Statement

“Syria is following with great anxiety the barbaric Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza… a horrific crime and terrorist act.

[…]

“Syria as president of the Arab League calls on Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to assess the dangerous situation in Gaza.”

Hasan Qashqavi, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman

“Iran strongly condemns the Zionist regime’s wide-ranging attacks against the civilians in Gaza.

“The raids against innocent people are unforgivable and unacceptable.”

And the most useless and mealy-mouthed reaction of all comes from — surprise! — the Vatican:

Rev Federico Lombardi, Vatican Spokesman

“Hamas is a prisoner to a logic of hate, Israel to a logic of faith in force as the best response to hate.

“One must continue to search for a different way out, even if that may seem impossible.”

So from this we get a fairly clear idea how our leaders will react to terrorist attacks against Jewish targets. A few words careful not to offend Islamic terrorists. Hence the responsibility ends where it should begin. In the hands of each individual Jewish person to decide how exactly they should protect themselves. The state will not be able to do it nor has the will.

Perhaps the radical sounding words of the founder of the JDL, Rabbi Meir David Kahane don’t sound so radical now. “Every Jew a .22″.

Frankly, I think a .45 would make a lot more sense.

What have you done lately to help yourselves?

Or asked for money, or a trailer or anything else.

Dr. Melissa Clouthier talks about surviving hurricane Ike. She includes mistakes that she made that she has learned from. Imagine that! As well as things she did right that she’s glad about.

A back-up generator is not a luxury. When figuring a cost-benefit analysis, the food lost alone (we had a side of beef in a deep freezer), a generator pays for itself after one power outage. So, we need to get a generator. In addition, relief organizations won’t get into the area with ice for at least three days, maybe four. By that time, food is wasted.

We didn’t have enough batteries. I waited until too late to check on how many I had. By the time I figured out we needed more, they were sold out at the store.

Guns and gun training are a must. The police simply cannot be everywhere, but criminals are remarkably effective at being where the cops are not. So, we need to get both.

Full tanks of gas. This is a no-brainer but I was surprised how many people were desperate for gas right after everything hit. Lack of preparation has consequences. We needed the gas because we decided to leave The Woodlands. We were at least 100 miles or so out of the area before there were working gas stations. An empty tank would have left us stuck. Also, I was using the car to charge my cell phone every night. The car is an excellent generator. I’m thinking about electric cars too. Wouldn’t get too far with one of them, would you? Trucks are mighty nice in this situation. Our Suburban could be filled to the gills with kids, dogs and stuff and had a nice big (albeit guzzling) gas tank.

Landline, AT&T and Sprint telephone carriers. At one time or another at least one was working–mostly. That was a relief. Its one thing to be without internet (and at my level of addiction that’s painful), it’s another to be without a way to communicate period.

It happens maybe twice a year.

Kathy thinks the pregnancy of Bristol Palin makes the Palin’s look low class. I know where she’s coming from. Kathy’s family background is very similar to mine. My family was rife with unplanned pregnancies. Some led to adoptions. Some led to tacky welfare families. None led to abortions (to my knowledge).

Like Kathy, my family wasn’t wealthy. They weren’t even middle class. They were poor. I think had they been of the middle and upper classes, they could have supported unplanned babies. It would have been a lot easier to have them enveloped into a tighter-knit family, as opposed to a squabbling one.

I would rather see Bristol Palin pregnant, about to be married to the father, than see a poor teen whose mom is already on welfare bringing another baby into the mix. Which was why so many of my aunties gave their babies up for adoption. In fact, as it turned out through a stroke of fate, so did my own mother. Somewhere out in the great big world, I have a half sister. My mother was broke as broke could be, working a factory job, and didn’t want to have her baby in that life. She saved that for later on, when she was married and settled. That was her choice. This is Bristol’s. At least she has a strong family and a few $$ behind her to help the young couple along. We should all be so lucky.

Eighteen-, 19- and 20-year-old Namibian students, who otherwise would be settling into their local villages during the university winter break, sit in chairs arranged in a semicircle and begin to tackle a question that has frustrated and eluded many for years:

Why has HIV, the virus that tears apart the human immune system, savaged their nation to the point where one out of every five citizens now carries the it?

The statistics are hard to come to grips with – 20 per cent of the nation’s people, and in some areas of Namibia like the Caprivi region, close to an astounding 40 per cent carry the virus.

The students, attending a workshop run by the University of Namibia’s HIV/AIDS peer education program, blame poverty, inequality, underdevelopment and even the lingering travesties of colonialism for their country’s predicament. They even blame themselves and their fellow citizens for abusing alcohol, not using condoms or for having multiple sexual partners.

Themselves? Really? Who woulda thunk it? After all, the colonialists are not grabbing every African dick and shoving it into the nearest available hole, are they? I sincerely doubt the diamond trade - or even the slave trade - had much to do with Africans not being able to keep it in their pants. How about learning a little personal responsibility and a few morals, then see what happens.

And if you get the hang of it in Africa, come on over and teach our gay communities a thing or two about how barebacking just isn’t cool.

From today’s National Post comes a letter from an addict’s relative, saying enough with the pity parties and poverty pimps.

As a family member of one of Victoria’s junkie population, I do not agree that “most wish their main remedy did not have to be a dose of crack or heroin injected in an alleyway.” As many a family member of a junkie will tell you, until the day they actually reject a dose in favour of detox, addicts wish for little besides more and more doses of crack or heroin, and the fewest possible distractions from getting on with them. The feelings, needs and rights of other people are distractions that junkies very readily dispense with.

Junkies are pretty ruthless about acquiring the means to get more drugs, and one of the means they need is territory. They need a place to hang out with their cronies, a place to connect with dealers and a place to shoot up. They don’t care if it’s an alley, as long as no one hassles them. As both Vancouver and Victoria have shown, any territory not aggressively defended by civilized society will be lost to the drug scene.

It is very convenient, but not at all believable, to assert that mental illness is behind the majority of drug use, panhandling and street life. If drug use were not so generously supported by society, via the generous supply of free food and shelter that allows junkies to concentrate better on their drug-seeking rather than on self-care, I think a lot of purportedly mentally ill people would recover their sanity quite quickly (leaving services available for the truly mentally ill).

It is also convenient, but, again, not believable, to assert that drug users are victims of urban society. If lack of services caused drug addiction, then there would be a lot more addicts. To see addicts as hapless victims forces the conclusion that they are powerless over their actions, in which case they should not be autonomous. If we consider them as autonomous as other citizens, free to use the streets, then they need to be accountable for how they use them.

Drug use isn’t easy to beat by any means. But making excuses for drug users and supporting their drug use doesn’t make it any easier. In fact, it makes it nearly impossible.

What the world needs now…

- Live below sea level? Move. Live in the desert? Likewise. The Appalachans? People still live there? Why?? It’s called “the bus…”

- Africa needs zippers, not condoms. You’d think from last night’s show that AIDS magically generates in little children’s bodies like mythical maggots. No cause and effect in Africa, apparently. Can no one just control their urges for five minutes?

Common sense: It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.