Thursday, February 18, 2010

Local Connections to the Uganda Kill-the-Gays Law

I don't think we have talked at all here about the anti-homosexuality law that is being considered in Uganda. That's mostly because it's, well, it's Uganda, it's halfway around the world. But it does affect us, what's happening over there even has several connections to our Montgomery County and our public school district.

Uganda is considering a law that will make homosexuality a capital offense. The effort seems to have backing from some American groups -- you should see World Net Daily's video HERE. (I especially love the grand finale: "Like the great Doctor King told us, the moral arm of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Ugandans, stay on the right side of history.")

Surprisingly, there are several connections between what is going on in Uganda and goings-on in our public school district. Former PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) president Richard Cohen sent his staffer Caleb Lee Brundidge to Uganda to attend a conference to plan and promote the kill-the-gays law. Cohen's book is widely quoted by the leaders of the Ugandan anti-gay campaign -- Cohen is a Marylander from PG County who has been involved in our county's sex-education curriculum development, speaking to the MCPS Board of Education in 2005, when he was president of PFOX. Watch Rachel Maddow spell out the connection between Cohen and the Uganda campaign, and give him a chance to explain himself, HERE and HERE. Cohen is no longer president of PFOX, but PFOX still refers people to him for counseling and promotes his events.

The Montgomery County School District sends PFOX literature home with schoolchildren four times a year, and has appointed a PFOX board member who believes homosexual behavior should be criminalized to his third term on the citizens committee that advises the district on sex-ed policies.

A therapist for Cohen's organization, Caleb Lee Brundidge, was one of three Americans who addressed the recent anti-gay Family Life Network conference in Uganda (listen to him HERE). He had previously addressed our Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education in 2005, under the name Lee B. Brundidge, in order to influence the school district's decisions regarding classes on sexual orientation. He told the board, "I am here to tell you that ex-gay people exist, and I am one of them." Richard Cohen's International Healing Foundation's "therapists" page says (HERE) that Brundidge had moved from Atlanta, Georgia to New Jersey, then to Maryland, and on to Phoenix, Arizona. Most news accounts describe him as living in Phoenix.

Even as American bigots are motivating and supporting the Ugandans in making homosexuality a capital crime, the movement in Uganda seems to be encouraging American bigots. I don't think it is coincidental that MCPS sex-ed adviser and MoCo resident Peter Sprigg told Chris Matthews on Hardball recently that homosexual behavior should be against the law. Subsequently, Gary Glenn of the American Family Association of Michigan has said he, too, thinks it should be criminalized, and Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association has also gone on record as saying that homosexuality should be criminalized. They are not calling for the actual killing of LGBT people, as Uganda is considering, but only jailing them. (The World Net Daily video I linked above does suggest that capital punishment is what the Founding Fathers intended.)

PFOX is the ultimate passive aggressive organization. They never say anything negative about gay people, they just offer them "change" and argue that everybody should have "self-determination," as if you can determine your own sexual orientation -- as if some individuals "self-determined" to become gay and lesbian. PFOX has not gone on the record as saying that they support Uganda's efforts to kill gay people. But last month they posted on their blog the most bizarre news story. They got this from a site called AllAfrica.com. I hate to rebroadcast this kind of ugliness here, but this is what PFOX considers a blogworthy news story in January 2010:
23 March 2009

Kampala — A man shocked parents on Sunday when he confessed to recruiting school children into homosexuality as part of a programme to promote the practice in Ugandan schools.

George Oundo said funders gave them "much money" and training abroad and that he would target mostly the needy children who had problems of tuition and pocket money and "others who like outings."

Oundo warned parents to know their children's friends. Homosexuals, he added, were targeting mostly children "because they are easy to initiate and they like easy things".

Oundo said he got seriously involved in promoting homosexuality in 2003. "I was taken to Nairobi for training," he said. "I used to supply pornographic materials in form of books and compact discs showing homosexuality to young boys in many schools," he explained.

The training, he said, was facilitated by Gay and Lesbian Coalition. "I also got the pupils' telephone contacts. We used to meet with both girls and boys in schools during ceremonial parties," he asserted.

He said he only stopped his activities after becoming a Born-again Christian. He told all this to about 50 parents attending a seminar at Hotel Triangle, Kampala on Sunday. It was organised by Family Life Network, a local charity which promotes family values. Uganda - Homosexual Admits Recruiting School Children

Yes, the original article was written in March, 2009.

PFOX added a note at the top of the blog post:
Will Rachel Maddow discuss this on her show?

Actually, I would love to see Rachel Maddow discuss the fact that PFOX, claiming to be friends of gays, is republishing this kind of article, which is a perfect example of the kind of paranoid fantasy entertained and loved by the most strident gay-hater. There are people who really think this happens, that huge, well-funded organizations of gay people are actively recruiting children to join their shadowy and evil "lifestyle," not only in faraway Uganda but right here in the USA. Such a belief is cited as justification for violence, there is no reason to publish such an article beyond inciting prejudice and discrimination. And here is PFOX actively stirring the pot, going halfway across the world to Uganda to find an article describing the paranoid hater's most vivid fantasy. Friends of gays, not so much.

There have been some apologists, by the way, who have tried to say that Uganda's law won't really kill gay people. Yes it will. Under the law they can kill you for letting a gay couple use your apartment, or for not ratting a gay friend out to authorities, lots of things. Ex-Gay Watch this week linked to an excellent video that goes through the text of the law, highlighting terms and their definitions, which can be lost in the bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo. Watch this:



Also, I should point out that Warren Throckmorton has been following the Uganda situation very closely, almost obsessively I thought, but he is justified, this is an important developing situation. Warren doesn't always see things our way, you might say, but he provides a lot of links and keeps track of what's going on, he even has the occasional interview with someone involved in the situation.

Uganda is not half a world away, what's happening in Uganda is closely linked to what's happening in our little county, in our little school district.

67 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The Montgomery County School District sends PFOX literature home with schoolchildren four times a year, and has appointed a PFOX board member who believes homosexual behavior should be criminalized to his third term on the citizens committee that advises the district on sex-ed policies."

that's pretty funny

"I hate to rebroadcast this kind of ugliness here, but this is what PFOX considers a blogworthy news story in January 2010"

how do you know the story isn't true?

you know the funny thing is, but saying it's a horrible lie that gays are recruiting kids to become gay, you're actually conceding that homosexuality is a bad thing

if it wasn't, what would be wrong with promoting it?

February 19, 2010 4:31 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

I didn't say it was a horrible lie. I said it is "a perfect example of the kind of paranoid fantasy entertained and loved by the most strident gay-hater."

JimK

February 19, 2010 4:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Peter Sprigg should move to Uganda.

February 19, 2010 5:26 PM  
Anonymous Jody May-Chang said...

Bryan Fischer is well-known in Idaho. The man’s obsession with and hatred of homosexuals is well documented. I have been reporting on this guy for years during his reign of terror on LGBT Idahoans.

His latest rant on criminalizing homosexuals is just the tip of the iceberg of who this hate-monger really is. Idaho media is responsible for the creation of the national persona that is Bryan Fischer. I have just completed an in-depth report on such on my site. (Thank the Idaho media for Bryan Fischer’s national celebrity" http://may-chang.com/?p=1168 )

You may also find interesting he does have a connection to Uganda in the way Fischer is a BIG FAN and supporter of Scott Lively who is one of the major US contributors to the Ugandan "Kill the Gays bill" ("Bryan Fischer’s Lively Connection – The death penalty for homosexuals" http://may-chang.com/?p=977

For those who are interested in learning more on this bully. I have assembled an archive on my site("The Fischer Files:" http://may-chang.com/?page_id=1147) that reporters and activists might find illuminating.

Sorry for all the links I do not mean to shamelessly promote myself, I really am more interested in getting the TRUTH ABOUT BRYAN FISCHER out there to other blogger, reporters and activists.

Thanks for indulging me ;)

February 19, 2010 5:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No one can be "recruited" ("but saying it's a horrible lie that gays are recruiting kids to become gay...") to any particular sexual orientation, any more than one can "recruit" somebody to be left-handed or blue-eyed. Human sexuality is an innate human characteristic.

It's nothing more than a big LIE, promulgated to foment hatred and violence against GLBT people.

One can be recruited, however, to be a bigoted, hate-filled, and willfuly stupid member of any countless numbers of right-wing, so-called "Family Values" groups (e.g. PFOX).

February 20, 2010 10:36 AM  
Anonymous snowblind said...

"No one can be "recruited" to any particular sexual orientation, any more than one can "recruit" somebody to be left-handed or blue-eyed. Human sexuality is an innate human characteristic."

This is neither intuitively evident nor empirically established. Eye color is a physical trait. Handedness is based on internal wiring as to which side of your body is designed for optimal functioning.

Sexual preference, like other preferences, is concerned with one's relationship to society. Sexuality is obviously hard wired but there is no evidence that the target of one's sexuality cannot be influenced by external factors.

Think of how one chooses a partner. Whether one prefers blondes or brunettes, blue or green eyes, slender or full figured, white or dark complexion, and a million other characteristics is a matter of preference. Why wouldn't gender be the same?

February 20, 2010 12:22 PM  
Anonymous Robert said...

I would challenge PFOX to express opposition to laws that criminalize particular sexual orientations, and to disavow connection with people who support them, and to own the outrage any decent organization would have with its involvement being used to foment hate.

They have not done so, and appear to support such laws, both in this and other countries. (PFOX's Peter Sprigg supports criminalization of LGBT people in this country).

February 21, 2010 8:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I would challenge every organization to express opposition to laws that de-criminalize the killing of unborn babies, and to disavow connection with people who support them, and to own the outrage any decent organization would have with its involvement being used to foment hate.

February 21, 2010 9:06 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Uganda’s just saying what anti-gays have been thinking about for years.

Is that a crime?

February 21, 2010 9:52 AM  
Anonymous svelte_brunette said...

If Uganda’s anti-gay bill passes, it is only a matter of time before there is a witch hunt for gays, and a purging. They may not wait to go through the court systems for the executions. Right now, the most likely leader of such a movement is Pastor Martin Ssempa.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hyJex4vkO1MYbS3sVu8PBYCml2Lg

I wonder what Christians will think after the slaughter starts.

Cynthia

February 21, 2010 10:14 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

“I would challenge every organization to express opposition to laws that de-criminalize the killing of unborn babies”

For what it’s worth, I fully support the minimization of unwanted pregnancies.

February 21, 2010 10:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Emproph,

I realize that you think what you're saying is a good thing, but that's tantamount to saying:

"For what it's worth, so-and-so fully supports the minimization of the killing of gay people who happen to have mothers who don't want them to live."

February 21, 2010 1:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Emproph -- By the way, I do know you meant your statement as a nice gesture and I appreciate it, but I do hope you will think abortion through to its logical end.

February 21, 2010 1:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's the logical end: George Carlin: Pro Life, Abortion, And The Sanctity Of Life

February 21, 2010 1:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Carlin is truly disgusting. He has no regard for human life.

February 21, 2010 2:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Correction -- "was disgusting and "had" no regard...

February 21, 2010 2:11 PM  
Anonymous ha ha said...

George Carlin's Two Commandments

1. Thou shalt always be honest and faithful to the provider of your nookie and thou shalt try real hard not to kill anyone, unless of course they pray to a different invisible man from the one you pray to.

2. Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself.

And remember, coveting your neighbor's goods is what keeps the economy going!

February 21, 2010 3:35 PM  
Anonymous jumbo shrimp said...

"Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself"

think this through

you've found what you consider to be the meaning and purpose of life

and you should keep it to yourself?

sounds pretty self-centered

of course, the truth is that Carlin felt too insecure in his own religious views to be able to tolerate anyone expressing a different view

February 21, 2010 4:02 PM  
Anonymous Derrick said...

I really don´t expect PFOX to distribute fliers the next time around. They´ve shown their hands for what they are: pro-hate, pro-murder. We must make this obvious to the MCPS BOE.

February 21, 2010 4:26 PM  
Anonymous derrick is dumb said...

they haven't said anything pro-hate or pro-murder, Derrick

if we find NAMBLA quoting TTF, should we have the TTF rep thrown off the sex ed committee?

February 21, 2010 4:38 PM  
Anonymous let the good times roll said...

the latest Ramussen poll of likely voters find 45% approve of Obomba and 54% disapprove

that ain't good!!

February 21, 2010 4:50 PM  
Anonymous here we come said...

"Something has gone very wrong.

Was it just a year ago that Democrats assumed more control in Washington than the party has had in my lifetime? It was.

Was it just a year ago that President Obama promised a new era of change, bipartisanship and transparency? It was.

Just weeks into office, the president pushed through a major stimulus package to save the American economy, restore credit, build infrastructure and create jobs. Now, unable to get Republicans to support what was their idea — a bipartisan commission on the deficit — the president has appointed one of his own.

Republicans shouldn't be able to get away with opposing a bipartisan effort to reduce the deficit, but they can and they have, for one simple reason: The country has turned.

The president and the Democrats may have only lost one Senate seat, but in terms of actual control, they have lost much more. Republicans can just say no as long as the country seems to agree with them. Do you want to guess what they'll be saying to television cameras next week?

So what went wrong? Every Democrat has a different answer. It was Pelosi's fault or Reid's or Emanuel's. Should have reached out to Republicans; shouldn't have cut those deals behind closed doors. It is, they say every day, a communications problem.

Years ago, I was working in politics. After a detailed survey, one of the guys who had been polling for years leaned over and said, "We have a very big problem. People just don't like our candidate." Not an ideological problem. Not a problem with his experience or positions. They just didn't like him.

Of course, you can't tell your candidate that the people don't like him. So we said to him, the people don't know you.

The White House is trying to treat the problem with its health care proposal as a communications problem.

It's not that people don't want the plan; they just don't know how great it is. Our fault, says the president, for not communicating more effectively.

Not so fast.

Barack Obama is a great communicator. He's talked a lot about health care in the past year. And I've been listening. I know just as many horror stories as they do about what happens to people with pre-existing conditions.

I'm all for letting people with pre-existing conditions buy affordable insurance. But letting sicker people into any pool will dramatically increase premiums for everyone. So you have to make the young, healthy people join, too, or the costs will be exorbitant.

So, hypothetically, now everyone has insurance — either they pay for it, or we do. Then what happens? Everybody gets more health care. Just exactly how does that save us money? Just exactly how do we pay for it?

Cost controls? In order to get refills for my arthritis medicine every month, I have to get pre-approval each time from the insurance company, which this week has taken most of the week. If the insurance company saves money, it's only because making the pharmacist jump through more hoops sometimes means I miss a dose or two. This cannot be what they mean by cost control.

Get rid of unnecessary tests? I'm not really into unnecessary tests. It's getting the necessary tests approved that causes so much trouble.

Paying doctors and hospitals less to give us more? That's bound to work…

It's not a communications problem.

What's gone wrong is that people see the country swimming in debt, see the jobs recovery lagging, see friends and neighbors who are not even hanging on, and they just don't know how this administration is planning to pay for a massive health care reform effort.

"Just say no" isn't the answer to the need for health care reform — but neither is another big spending program when we are being told our historic debt is a ticking time bomb for our children."

February 21, 2010 5:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

February 21, 2010 5:53 PM  
Anonymous Derrick said...

Once again, AnonBigot has no idea what s/he is talking about.

Have you even seen the post that PFOX has their blog?


I bet you also believe that pigs fly...

PFOX is NOT a friend of the gay community. They hate everything and anything gay. You are a great example of that.

Shame, shame, shame.

PFOX will soon be titled as a hate group by the SPLC.

Reason will win out.

February 21, 2010 6:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

guess what I just heard on bob brinker money talk ?

the govt is talking about confiscating everyone's 401k in exchange for an "annuity" payment from the govt.

totally unreal.

what HAVE YOU IDIOTS THAT VOTED FOR THIS COMMUNIST DONE ??????

February 21, 2010 8:24 PM  
Anonymous Not Anon said...

Can you make up your mind when you name-call? Socialist or Communist?

February 21, 2010 8:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The definition of communism is socialism by revolution. The economic and social principles are the same. So if you have a socialist government, then you're completely dependent upon having a benevolent leader.

February 21, 2010 8:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

SCREAMER

Did Bob say who in government is "talking about confiscating everyone's 401k" or did he just make that generalized non-specific claim to scare more people into siding with him and his misguided belief that stimulus spending on job producing projects like the CCC and TVA we used to help get us out of the first great depression isn't necessary this time?

February 22, 2010 9:02 AM  
Anonymous when it's not over, over there said...

"job producing projects like the CCC and TVA we used to help get us out of the first great depression"

these two programs did not end the depression

five years after they were started, unemployment was 19%

unemployment finally fell below 10% as a result of the war spending for WWII

February 22, 2010 9:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

he had a caller ask if we should be cutting off contributions to our 401K in light of some conversations that were going on on the Hill apparently frida.

they have been talking about trying to talk folks into converting their 401K into govt annunities, in order to alleviate the financial crisis. they were also talking about whether such a program would be mandatory or voluntary.

so I did some google searches, and apparently congress has been holding hearings on this subject, and argentina just seized private pension plans. our congress was also dicussing taking 1/2 401K plans on inheritance.

then bob was calling this pure confiscation, and was shocked and horrified the govt would be talking about such a clearly socialist tactic - the confisication of private wealth.

I am shocked to, but I won't put anything past the congress at this point.

February 22, 2010 9:58 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

We were talking about PFOX.

February 22, 2010 9:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

sorry robert. don't you have any 401K holdings you don't want to turn over to the govt ?

No, you don't because you have a teachers pension I pay for....

while having to save on my own in the private sector....

did you know that 5 years ago the average govt job paid 59,000 and the average private job paid 40,000 ?

and tody the average private job pays 40,300 and the average govt job pays 73,000 ?

February 22, 2010 10:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let's for the record note that the assertion that "the govt is talking about confiscating everyone's 401k in exchange for an "annuity" payment from the govt" is pure bullshit.

February 22, 2010 10:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OIC, this is more nuttiness from WND (see http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=79168) and the "discussions" supposedly took place in Oct 2008. Have any actual bills been approved that proposed such a thing? No.

Take your fear-mongering to a right wing site where it might be effective.

Nobody said CCC and TVA "ended" anything, but they did help some unemployed people find paid work who would not have found it otherwise. And of course, the massive government spending for WWII finished what the CCC and TVA started. We need to spend massively more to create jobs now too.

Sorry to sidetrack, Robert.

I agree that PFOX's failure to speak up against the kill-gays bill in Uganda qualifies it as a hate-group and I also agree Peter Sprigg should move to Uganda so he can live in a country where they enact the kinds of laws he believes in.

February 22, 2010 10:29 AM  
Anonymous Canada is a winter doormat said...

I don't favor executing gays but one thing that may keep this all in perspective is that AIDS is a much bigger problem in Africa than here

there, unlike the Western democracies, it is more a heterosexual disease than homosexual but that's because they have always had strong societal taboos against homosexuality

in short, they already know to keep it to themselves if they have these kind of preferences

they just don't want to exacerbate their problems by now tolerating a intrinsically promiscuous population but instead want to cut the homosexual factor off before it gets as bad as here

so, cut them a break and vacation somewhere else

btw, isn't cool the way the Winter Olympics is demonstrating how superior America is to Canada

O Canada!

Your home and native land!

True winter sports skill does not command.

With glowing hearts we see thee suck!

February 22, 2010 11:00 AM  
Anonymous we stand on guard for thee said...

U.S. 5, Canada 2

February 22, 2010 11:02 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

People such as you, Cohen, Lively and Cameron have somehow convinced the Africans to combat their AIDS pandemic by hating on the gays.

You should be ashamed.

Anonymous all by himself is a hate site.

February 22, 2010 12:22 PM  
Anonymous ut O Canada said...

robo, robo, robo

don't hate on the Ugandans

because gays are restrained there, they are better than gays here who always have to worry about catchin' sumpin' nasty

Ugandan gays keep quiet, and, consequently, have fewer partners, and, consequently, have longer and happier lives

the society helps them overcome bondage to promiscuity

you should move there!

February 22, 2010 12:41 PM  
Anonymous Derrick said...

AnonBigot-

R u mad?

With that logic, you would still support slavery.

February 22, 2010 2:13 PM  
Anonymous give derrick some meds said...

DerrickButtwipe:

with that comment, you now qualify for entry into the funny farm of your choice

congrats!!

February 22, 2010 2:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Heterosexuals in Africa have the highest rates of HIV infection. Laws should be put in place to cut down on their rampant promiscuity before it's too late.

February 22, 2010 3:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As a heterosexual, I agree with the above statement.

February 22, 2010 3:35 PM  
Anonymous Robert said...

Anonymous expresses the same support for Uganda's unfathomable laws as do PFOX, Lively, and Cameron.

As I said, darling, you are a hate site all by yourself.

Just amazing, and I think he really doesn't see it.

February 22, 2010 3:50 PM  
Anonymous rubber band man said...

absolutely

if African countries had the same taboo against prostitution and gang rape as they do against homosexuality, AIDS wouldn't be rampant

fortunately, Christianity is spreading in sub-Saharan Africa so there is a growing context for conducting vital abstinence programs

of course, many Christian societies tend to be highly tolerant of homosexuality but perhaps Africans will avoid that pitfall

February 22, 2010 3:52 PM  
Anonymous in the darkest depths of mordor said...

"As I said, darling, you are a hate site all by yourself."

notice how when Robert decides someone is hateful, he atarts calling them "darling"?

the guy is creepy

I wonder if he dwells on his ssss's like Gollum

February 22, 2010 3:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

really pure bullshit ?


watch this :

http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2008/10/the-impact-of-the-financial-cr.shtml

February 22, 2010 4:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

really pure bs ?

watch this ....

http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2008/10/the-impact-of-the-financial-cr.shtml

February 22, 2010 4:35 PM  
Anonymous Derrick said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

February 22, 2010 4:47 PM  
Anonymous buzz cut said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

February 22, 2010 5:05 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

That's enough of that.

JimK

February 22, 2010 5:09 PM  
Anonymous clinton again!! said...

"With President Obama hoping this week's "bipartisan summit" will move his health-care bill out of the ICU, it's worth taking a look at a recent high-profile operation -- the heart work done on former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton, of course, got the best of care -- a cardiac stent (a tiny metal cylinder) coated with a drug to help keep his artery open. Recent studies in the New England Journal of Medicine and elsewhere have shown that these drug-eluting stents are more effective than bare metal ones.

But they cost two-to-four times more -- and the technology is relatively new. That combination has left government-run health-care systems slow to adopt them. The disparity between the US and Canada is striking.

Per capita, our neighbors to the north receive only half as many coronary interventions. And only 30 percent of the stents placed in Canada are drug eluting, compared with a whopping 80 percent in the United States.

So a Canadian cardiac patient is less than a quarter as likely as an American to be outfitted with the kind of state-of-the-art stent that Clinton had.

In Canada, land of single-payer health insurance, you're also less likely to get the stent as soon as the need is clear -- especially in western provinces where resources are extremely limited and access is spotty. In Edmonton, Alberta, the wait for a cardiac procedure is routinely three to four months. In many areas of western Canada, less than half of angioplasties and stents are done at the same time as the original angiogram, a big waste of time and resources.

Canada has been attempting to deal with this problem of excess delay and inefficiency by introducing a database-driven system that assigns scores based on urgency. But many American cardiologists shudder at exactly this kind of solution -- a federal system for deciding who needs an urgent procedure and who doesn't. And if you were to think that rationing cardiac care is a way of saving money, you'd be dead wrong. An Austrian study just published found that the cost of waiting dramatically increases the average cost of treatment per patient.

The record of the last half-century is unmistakable: Government-dominated health sectors don't innovate as fast, and they resist the latest discoveries because they "see" the costs up-front, and are slow to accept the benefits.

Any of the ObamaCare bills would push us in Canada's direction, with policymakers looking hard to find overly simplistic solutions to justify lower costs for cheaper technologies. Indeed, some US "experts" are already brandishing a single 2008 study, known as the COURAGE trial, that seems to undermine the value of stents.

But ask any of the one million US patients who have received a stent over the last year if they think the capital investment that companies have made on evolving stent technology has been worth it. Perhaps even the former president would agree to the cost/benefit of stenting, even as he's championing a form of health care that could take that routine option away."

February 22, 2010 6:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2008/10/the-impact-of-the-financial-cr.shtml

The link proves that a hearing took place in October, 2008. Reading and listening to the testimony from that hearing makes it clear that Rep. Miller's committee invited people to testify both for and against many options including letting Americans swap out their 401Ks for T-bills.

Why did the Committee on Education and Labor hold the hearing? Because in the waning days of the Bush/Cheney administration, the stock market was crashing so seniors close to retirement were freaking out over the huge losses their 401K accounts were taking. Rep. Miller, the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor rolled up his sleeves and held that hearing to seek ways to minimize the impact of the severe financial crisis on the security of workers' retirement pensions and their individual retirement accounts.

Thank you Representative Miller. It's good to know someone in Washington has been concerned with those of us who live on main street.

February 22, 2010 7:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://honeysbobbrinkerbeehivebuzz2.blogspot.com/

Sunday, February 21, 2010
Bob Brinker: Possible IRA/401K Government Confiscation
February 21, 2010....Yesterday, much of Bob Brinker's Moneytalk was devoted to the talk in Washington about the government helping themselves to our IRAs/401ks. I transcribed some of Brinker's dialogue on the subject. Please see yesterday's summary.

Based on the current information that's out there, it looks like progress is quietly moving forward. This subject was first covered on Moneytalk back in November, 2008. I transcribed and paraphrased some of the conversation and Jeffchristie found the transcript for us

February 22, 2010 8:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

does anyone else think it is about time to cash everything out and high tail it out of the country ?

who knows what Obama the dictator will try next ????

February 22, 2010 8:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

read the comments on this one....
very very scary.

http://honeysbobbrinkerbeehivebuzz2.blogspot.com/2010/02/february-20-2010-bob-brinkers-moneytalk.html

you can take money out and then put it back within 6 months. so, keep watching it and pull it all out in June, move it into another account and decide to take early distribution under the current law ? ie, distribute it all and if the republicans win back congress in november, put it back in.. ?

better than giving the Obama administration all your savings, I think.

pay off your mortgage. though who knows, maybe he will come after that next.




Just the fact that this Democratic congress are talking about using reconciliation to pass the health care bill (complete outrageous bypass of their authority)... says to me...

THEY WILL DO ANYTHING. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE OR THE LAW.

February 22, 2010 9:21 PM  
Anonymous Merle said...

Anonymous, you are embarrassing me.

February 22, 2010 9:34 PM  
Anonymous merle hasn't a clue said...

surly merle:

the health care reform is opposed by two-thirds of Americans and every single member of the opposition party

and, if passed, it would one of the more significant pieces of legislation in history

do you see any problem here?

if the Democratic Party passes it through reconciliation, they will never be a major party again

Americans will replace them with a moderate Repub party

henceforth, elections will be between moderates and conservatives

the Whigs are getting a room ready for you

February 22, 2010 10:22 PM  
Anonymous Merle said...

But Americans will be able to get health care, who cares if the Democrats get elected again? That's not what this is about.

February 22, 2010 10:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow.
Merle.
that just says it all.

February 23, 2010 12:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Anonymous"
You are just too supercilious, smug, and demeaning for words. How proud you must be of your persona.

February 23, 2010 9:26 AM  
Anonymous Robert said...

Hating on Gollum? How could you?

February 23, 2010 9:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Damned deviants

http://www.paradisepost.com/news/ci_14395727

OROVILLE - A fundamentalist religious philosophy that espouses corporal punishment to "train" children to be more obedient to their parents and God, is now being investigated in connection with the death of a young Paradise girl and serious injuries to her sister.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey confirmed Thursday that other children in the home who have been interviewed told investigators "this philosophy was espoused by their parents." Ramsey said he is also exploring a possible connection to an Internet Web site that endorses "biblical discipline" using the same rubber or plastic tubing alleged to have been used to whip the two young Ridge girls by their adoptive parents. In court Thursday, a judge granted a two-week postponement before the children's parents, Kevin Schatz, 46, and Elizabeth Schatz, 42, enter a plea to murder and torture charges that could carry two life terms in prison.

The delay will allow the mother to retain legal counsel as her husband did earlier. The father's attorney, Michael Harvey, declined to comment regarding the specific allegations against the couple until he has a chance to review the evidence.

"All I can say is the family is shocked; they are grieving the loss of their daughter and (ask) that people of faith will pray for everybody involved," the defense attorney stated outside of court Thursday.

The Schatzes were arrested last Saturday morning after their adopted daughter, Lydia, age 7, stopped breathing. She was subsequently pronounced dead. Her 11-year-old sister, Zariah Schatz, remains in critical condition at a Sacramento children's hospital, though is showing some signs of recovery. The two were adopted at the same time along with an infant girl, now 3, from the same African orphanage about three years ago.

Prosecutors allege the two victims were subjected to "hours" of corporal punishment by their parents on successive days last Thursday and Friday with a quarter-inch wide length of rubber or plastic tubing, which police reportedly recovered from the parent's bedroom. Police allege that the younger girl was being disciplined for mis-pronouncing a word during a home-school reading lesson the day before she died.

The two young girls reportedly sustained deep bruising and multiple "whip-like" marks on their back, buttocks and legs, which authorities believe resulted in significant muscle tissue breakdown that impaired their kidneys and possibly other vital organs, said Ramsey. He said investigators are researching a possible connection to an Internet Web site set up by "fundamentalist Christian people" that recommends use of the same whip-like implement "as an appropriate tool for biblical chastisement ... to train a child from infancy to make them a happier child and more obedient to God because they are obedient to the will of their parents," said Ramsey.

The district attorney said some of the Schatzes' six biological children, who were removed from the family home for their protection following the parents' arrest, have made statements suggesting the ridge couple shared this philosophy.

February 23, 2010 9:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Anonymous"
Please let us know when you plan to "hightail it out of the country". ("does anyone else think it is about time to cash everything out and high tail it out of the country ?")

I want to be at the airport or seaport to wish you a bon voyage and a good riddence!

Oh, and..."moderate Republicans"? You must be on a halucinating drug that also has an adverse effect on your other problem...diarrhea of the mouth!

February 23, 2010 9:39 AM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

health care reform is opposed by two-thirds of Americans and every single member of the opposition party

There's nothing quite like the bald-faced lie, huh Anone?

WaPo reported in February 2010:

nearly two-thirds of Americans say they want Congress to keep working to pass comprehensive health-care reform. Democrats overwhelmingly support continued action on this front, as do 56 percent of independents and 42 percent of Republicans...

About three-quarters of Democrats see the congressional Republicans as intransigent, while a similar proportion of Republicans see Obama that way. But even Republicans are critical of their congressional leadership, with 44 percent seeing them as doing too little to strike deals with Obama; that compares with just 13 percent of Democrats worried about inaction on Obama's part.

At the same time, the president does pick up some criticism from the left here: 18 percent of liberal Democrats say Obama is doing too much to compromise with the GOP on big issues.

February 23, 2010 9:53 AM  
Anonymous cherry tree chopper said...

interesting that anon-BS has the nerve to call someone else a liar

her post, implying that voters support Obamacare, is a lie

Americans want action on health care

what they overwhelmingly oppose is the Democrat plan

February 23, 2010 1:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=521423

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20100202/NEWS/100209975#comments

Here's the kicker. You can already have annuities as part of your 401K plan.

So if you can already have annuities in your 401K plan, what is the Treasury dept holding hearings on it ?

http://tracywaltersblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/democrats-next-target-401k-savings.html

February 23, 2010 1:38 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

“Emproph, I realize that you think what you're saying is a good thing, but that's tantamount to saying:

"For what it's worth, so-and-so fully supports the minimization of the killing of gay people who happen to have mothers who don't want them to live."

--
If my good friend from Anonima would allow me to amend my previous statement… a’hem, “I fully support the elimination of unwanted pregnancies.”

That said…

Emproph -- By the way, I do know you meant your statement as a nice gesture and I appreciate it, but I do hope you will think abortion through to its logical end.

The “logical” end of abortion, to me, are living breathing conscious souls just begging to be born. Maybe just for fun, maybe to learn the lessons of life, or maybe something inbetween.

Given the rarity of stillborns, I surmise that the demand for human life on Earth far outweighs the supply.

Point being, we are immortal being(s), and this life on Earth is just a ride along the way. An often times painful one, but in the end, a ride. I believe that abortion makes the line for that ride that much longer.

It’s tragic. For every abortion, entire lives, families, possible generations, and all that they may have had to offer are lost. I get that part of it. And that’s what scares me about abortion.

What I don’t get, is the fear of what you must think a loving god does with these “newly created” eternal souls.

So, if you would oblige me for a moment, I should say that I would like to know, what exactly do you believe is the “logical end” of abortion, and why.

March 03, 2010 1:08 PM  

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