0 A Band-Aid For Healthcare

I have not spent a bunch of time rallying either for or against the healthcare debate, mostly because what I say or think will not make one iota of difference anyway. So why get a full head of steam built up when there is no train on the track? Since steam trains don't routinely run the tracks any longer, this analogy just does not make any sense? Well that is EXACTLY how I feel about this healthcare bill as it is currently written.

At 2800 pages long, THIS health bill it is just too much for anyone to get their proverbial arms around, much less actually digest. It confounds me as to what the big attraction is in this bill that makes grown politicians throw caution to the wind along with their potentially long political careers just to cram all of this through RIGHT NOW? Doesn't that make anyone else just a little bit curious and NERVOUS? Just what flavor of Kool-Aid are these folks drinking?

0 Was Thomas Jefferson Antichrist?

Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian who denied that Jesus Christ was God. In a letter dated June 26, 1822 Thomas Jefferson wrote to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, "...I trust that there is not a young man now living in the United States who will not die an Unitarian."

As noted above, most Christians believe that the AntiChrist will arise in the last days as a supreme dictator. However, the Bible itself tells us that the antichrist is not just one person, but many.

"Children, even now many antichrists have arisen…They went out from us, but they were not really of us... (I John 2: 18, 19). A few verses later (2:22) we read: "This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son."

0 Why Was Liberia in West Africa Divided?

fter the emancipation of enslaved African Americans according to my grandparents, there was a divide between white and black Americans. After tiresome negotiations the freed African Americans returned to the land of their ancestors. In 1815, Paul Cufee, and African-American, a marine magnate sponsored a small group of African-Americans to set up trade opportunities in Sierra Leone, West Africa. His idea was to let the African-Americans become self supportive and improve their lifestyles because of the knowledge they gained in America. Unfortunately he died two years later in 1817.

Nevertheless, his dreams were short lived but partially realized because some groups, who favoured colonization, launched a movement to send back volunteered freed African American slaves to settle in West Africa. Then again, the liberated African-Americans were of the opinion that returning to their land of origin in West Africa would be a continuation of slavery for the simple reason that the supporters were slave holders. Moreover, the African Americans wanted to stay in America because they felt they had contributed in building up America.

0 Pros And Cons Of Buying Used History Textbooks Online

The most obvious and important benefit of buying goods online is the convenience that it provides. Shopping for goods over the Internet can save a lot of time. You do not need to wait for the stationery store to open, or the stocks to arrive. You also do not need to struggle with your already packed schedule.
*The second advantage of buying used history books online is the reduction in cost. Online stores offer greater discounts compared to traditional bookstores. Also, online shopping offers the great advantage of comparing prices for several stores. Sometimes, you can get almost 25 to 30 per cent reduction in price of books.
*Online buying also saves a lot of time that otherwise would have to be allocated in standing in long queues at the college book store.

0 Change Agents Toward a New American Dream

America will never be what she was on July 4, 1776! Furthermore, America should never be what she is on April 7, 2010. The dreams and visions our Founding Fathers had for America is all but forgotten by most of the world. They have been lost in the rhetoric of the past. What we need today is a 21st Century dream for a New America that will be fueled by what we have learned in our past experiences. What we need is a New America that can dream again.

In comparing July 4, 1776 with April 7, 2010, we can glean many lessons that time has taught us. We can know what works and what does not work. We can discard the things that have not worked. We can renew the things that have worked. We can teach the workable things to our children and children's children. We can refuse to be sidetracked by self-serving special interest groups.

0 Honoring Those Who Gave So Much

Black History Month was started in 1915, by Dr. Carter G. Woodson to help heighten awareness of the role of African Americans in shaping history. He chose February for this historical focus because both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were born this month. Let’s take a brief look at the history of some of the achievements Dr. Woodson wanted us to remember always.

The civil rights movement gathered steam through the twentieth century, culminating in three watershed moments in the mid-1950’s: when the U.S. Supreme Court declared school segregation unconstitutional in the historic Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka decision; when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to move to the back of the bus; and when the battle raged about desegregation in the Little Rock High School.

In the 1960’s, African Americans began staging non-violent protests across the nation. From sit-in’s to Freedom Rides, to the electrifying leadership of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights movement attracted worldwide attention and gained momentum. The non-violence was repeatedly shattered during the same decade by church bombings, the assassination of Medgar Evers and Malcolm X, the disappearance and murder of civil rights workers in Mississippi, and riots across the nation.

In 1963, the iconic March on Washington occurred. Leaders from across the United States, including many from the NAACP, brought together hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life to fill the National Mall. It was there that Reverend King gave his historic “I Have A Dream” speech. Two years later, in 1965, civil rights activists peacefully began to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to call for voting rights. They were brutally attacked by state and local lawmen with billy clubs and tear gas on the day they set out, March 7, a day ever afterward known as Bloody Sunday. Two days later, Reverend King led the marchers again after he and other civil rights leaders asked for court protection. Federal District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr. ruled that the marchers had a right to protest and the march was completed by thousands of demonstrators. Later that same year, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

As people battled for their rights in the streets of America, African American political candidates were = fighting for recognition. A breakthrough happened in 1967, when Thurgood Marshall was named the first black judge to serve on the Supreme Court. That same year, Carl Strokes of Cleveland and Richard Hatcher were elected the first African American mayors of major U.S. cities.

Tragedy struck on April 4, 1968 when Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was later convicted of killing King and sentenced to 99 years in prison. In 1983, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a federal holiday.

While much has been done to further the civil rights cause by past and current leaders, including Jesse Jackson and Reverend Al Sharpton, much still needs to be done. In this last week of Black History Month, take time to reflect on the sacrifices of those who have come before us, but don’t stop there. Consider your role in extending civil rights to all Americans and take action. It’s not enough to remember past sacrifices; now is the time to stand up and fight for justice. The story is far from over—how will you contribute to it today?

0 The 16th Amendment!

Today we are going to discuss the 16th amendment.

This is a totally unconstitutional amendment.

I am not talking about whether it was properly ratified, though there is some doubt as to that point.

The 16th amendment is at cross purposes with amendments 4, which guarantees the sovereign freedom from search and seizure.

The 16th amendment is also at cross purposes with amendment 9, which guarantees freedom from the denial of rights guaranteed by the constitution.

One could make other arguments, but the people need none. The 16th amendment is poorly written, unfairly implemented, and a traitorous article.

Traitorous. And the people who wrote that article should be tried for treason, as should any citizens who seek to implement the 16th amendment.

0 The Dangers That Carbon Water Filter Technologies Save You From Every Day

The process of cleaning water is accomplished by using activated carbon to absorb and trap any contaminants that may be present. This is useful because carbon is extremely porous and this quality allows it to be an effective trap for chemicals and impurities that do not belong in drinking water.

Using at home filtration systems will provide the user with a clean supply of tap water that does not include any imperfections. These systems are very inexpensive and they are very safe to use. They come in various sizes and there is one that will fit every need possible.

It can be quite unnerving to think that there can be as many as one hundred man made chemicals present in our drinking water. Some of these chemicals such as pesticides and solvents are dangerous in large quantities. It is a good idea to remove them altogether by using a water filtration system.

0 The Final Countdown - Health Care Reform Passed

After four decades of howling on the floors of the Capitol, the long due health care reform bill has been passed with 219 - 212 votes. A bill that will shape the whole nation, the people who have no coverage at all, health workers on medical scrubs, and most importantly the insurers. Not surprisingly though, the votes were all from the Democratic side of the chamber. The Republicans maintained their position on the bill and even emphasized grueling pitches as the bill is being debated on the floor.
Yet, the passage still moved so swiftly albeit roughly that the White House is now cleaning the President's desk and preparing a new good pen for the bill's final signature of approval from the Chief Executive. Many speculated that the votes will be in favor of the President to the point that even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's smiles are given meaning by the media.

0 Republic Day Of India – A Day That Rekindles Patriotism And Humanity

Although India gained its independence in the year 1947, it did not have a permanent constitution and was devoid of political powers and authorities. Later on, the Drafting Committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution for India under the chairmanship of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. On November 4, 1947, the drafted document was submitted and after many debates, negotiations, and modifications the document was approved and signed by all the members of the Assembly on January 24, 1950. Two days after that on January 26, 1950, the constitution of India came into effect. Eventually, the political powers were taken away from the British and India became a ‘Republic’.

0 Is Social Security in Trouble?

The Social Security bill has arrived. Everyone knew it was coming; G. W. Bush tried to do something but the American people, and Congress, said no. Now, the bill is in the mail.

Congress has, for decades, borrowed the money supposedly put in a 'lockbox' for future retirees. A small town in West Virginia holds the IOU's issued by Congress so they could legally spend America's future. Roughly 2.5 trillion dollars has been borrowed (stolen?) from Social Security to fund the runaway spending, and the time has come to call in the debt.

Spending on Social Security this year will exceed the income into the fund by about $29 billion, creating a deficit in the program. All of the IOU's languishing in files will now have to be paid in order to continue funding benefits for those retiring this year. With the horrendous deficits caused by profligate spending, by both parties, Congress now will have to add more deficit spending to pay back the SSA.

0 Health Care Reform - The Case Against Obama Care

Candidate Obama promised to bring a "change you can believe in" to Washington politics and the way government has been doing business for decades. These main two selling points brought him into the White House. One year later, fair-minded liberals as well as conservatives would admit he failed in either one miserably.

Failure to succeed on a promise would give any President a bad grade; but in failing to bring change into Washington politics, and hence get his health care agenda passed in the middle of a democratically well controlled House and Senate, President Obama displayed an inexcusable performance, one that in a competitive, profit maximizing corporation would have cost him his job by now. The reason his failure is so profound has to do with his luck of understanding of the key components of the problem at hand. The luck of understanding of these fundamental components at this time of economic uncertainty, begs the need to question Mr. Obama's inexperience in governing, as well as his inability to recognize the issues at hand towards deciding on a course of action and bringing forward sensible arguments that people can believe in.

With regards to healthcare reform, the issues Americans are faced with go beyond covering the uninsured and bringing shame to insurance companies. Certainly the above have to be dealt with but the health care issue is not a poor man's prerogative. Every family, from poor to middle class is faced with exorbitant health insurance costs while at the same time incremental health benefits have not kept up with technological progress, hence have not been realized. It is not unusual for a middle class family to be paying one third of its income on health insurance only to be asked to also pay co-pays, coinsurance costs, etc. At the same time, it is clear that the existing reimbursement system has stifled technological innovation in medicine and diseases like cancer, HIV, etc., are still around after decades of expenditures in research and investment in human capital. Relative speaking, when it comes to health care the US is the most technologically advanced nation, but nationally, we have been making baby steps in terms of dealing with serious illnesses.

So what is the way out of this mess or the best way to fix "the problem" in health care? For one thing we have to accept the fact that this is a "universal" issue and not an issue just for the poor and uninsured. Not accepting this as the main problem and trying to fix the issue by pouring dollars indiscriminately -over one trillion of government debt, is not only unwise but rather irresponsible as well. One has to recognize the big cost components that contribute to this problem and deal with all of them. The big components are:

1. Medicare & Medicaid
2. Reimbursement and patient responsibility
3. Consumer cost and incentives for better utilization of health resources
4. Uninsured

Medicare reform is necessary in order to provide incentives for doctors to treat patients according to good medicine protocols. A doctor who refuses to take a Medicare patient because of poor reimbursement is in fact raising the cost for that patient when he becomes too ill and seeks care in the emergency room. A secondary effect is that doctors are getting out of the field that has not provided a satisfying career of practicing medicine for the patient. Fewer doctors means less care which in term means poorer health outcomes therefore higher costs. It is a vicious circle that can only be stopped with sensible reform. The same goes for Medicaid. Poor management and reimbursement induces massive inefficiencies and skyrocketing costs. In the end, it is the patient that suffers and who in tern adds to ever rising costs and more inefficiencies.

One way to fix Medicare is to continue the existing privatization that allows private companies to compete and the patient to bear some of the responsibility. Our research has shown that the doughnut hole may indeed be a black hole that induces patients to switch or avoid therapy altogether, which in tern produces poor outcomes and hence higher costs. However, if the model is revised the patient can still bear some of the financial responsibility and hence use the system wiser, but he is not faced with such a catastrophe to be making unwise treatment decisions.

The uninsured pool is made of two cohorts. The poor and the...not so poor who are willing, or forced to game the system. The two uninsured groups are:

1. Uninsured because of poverty, and
2. Uninsured because the proposed legislation would allow one to game the system by avoiding (high cost) insurance and only paying for it on the way to the hospital

Instead of forcing people to buy insurance (by imposing a penalty which silly enough is less than the cost of insurance), incentives should be provided to induce wise and parsimonious utilization of resources. People are not criminals and should not be treated as such by imposing severe fees/penalties to induce them to a certain behavior; in general, people act wisely and will always seek behavior that seems fair for the benefit received. Health accounts that are set aside to use in time of need should not be "use it or lose it" types; after all, who wants to set aside thousands of dollars per year, on top of insurance premiums, just to cover an emergency that may never occur? I know of many people who think this is insane and counterproductive.

The proposed legislation approved by Congress is basically dead and members of Congress, be it republicans or democrats, have been disassociating themselves from it. The truth of the matter is, these proposals were concocted behind closed doors, with brides and kickbacks and no one can trust them. For a bi-partisan proposal and a change people can believe in, the existing proposals should be thrown out and new ones should begin from scratch.

0 Usa Inventions

The computer has develop into such a lot part of our lives that we forget that it was once once invented. The history of the development of this “futuristic” instrument is long and filled with genius. The real first prototypes of the pc have been evolved through the Security Department, that's oddly the supply of a large number of the good inventions in American history. Nevertheless it was once the early PC builders together with Steve Wozniac, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates that took the computer to the level of familiarity we are aware of it to be now and made computer systems part of our on a regular basis lives.

0 Swords A Prestigeous Weapon Of War

A sword is typically a elongated edged metal which is used in various forms depending on the user. It can be used for cutting, thrusting, slashing and clubbing. Swords were used in many civilizations throughout the world.

Earlier bronze and iron swords were not comparable to later steel swords. The iron was not quench hardened or tempered although often containing sufficient carbon, but work-hardened exactly like bronze by hammering.
This process made them somewhat comparable or better in strength, hardness, and durability compared to bronze swords. They can also still bend during use, rather than spring back into form. But the easier production, and the abundance of the raw material allowed people to produce swords and other war materials in a larger scale.

0 Tips For Effective Political Surveys

For local candidates with limited budgets, online survey tools are available that can help gather voter feedback. A number of free and paid options exists, including surveymonkey.com, freeonlinesurveys.com and zoomerang.com. A well-structured survey can provide a useful tool to provide insight into what issues are important to voters.

0 Parsing Obama

Over the weekend a poor lithium battery plant worker from South Carolina named Doris stumbled into a bear trap we'll call "Obama in a contemplative yet incoherent, feisty yet expansive mood."

Dear Doris asked Obama a question and was hit with a 2,600-word, 17-minute onslaught that makes any rambling reply Sarah Palin supposedly ever gave seem like the soul of brevity.

To be fair, Doris had placed a tall order: she had asked Obama to sell her on the recently passed health care overhaul legislation via a diatribe that rehashed the history of Medicare, trotted out charges against Bush, and stopped along the way for an analogy involving leaky roofs.

Oh wait-she didn't; that was what she got. She asked Obama whether raising taxes in a recession was a good idea.

0 2012 - The End of the World

Nostradamus predicted it...the Bible predicted it...the Mayans predicted it...

December 21, 2012...The End Of The World.

There is even scientific proof that a phenomenon which only happens every 360,000 years will occur. Scientists say that the direct alignment of the Milky Way, the Earth, and the Sun with cause Earth's poles to shift 45 degrees. What will happen when the poles shift? Polar shift can cause increased weather patterns and potentially catastrophic climate change. The polar shift wouldn't cause earth itself to end, but rather an increased amount of damage dealt upon earth via earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes and so on.

There is not much we can do when it comes to nature, just "ride the wave" per say. And what is supposed to happen with the alignment? Well, potentially the Earth could be lost in the Milky Way. There is a black hole in the Milky Way that we could pulled into when the direct alignment happens. So if we are sucked into a black hole, when it will be the end of the world or will we just be moving to another part of the solar system? Does anyone know what the outcome of this would be? A large meteorite could also slam into the earth causing us to be extinct like the dinosaurs.

Would this be an instantaneous end or would it cause weather anomalies like a polar shift? The Bible predicts in The Book Of Revelations that the rise of the Antichrist will cause Earth's final demise. The battle between good and evil is supposed to destroy the Earth and send mankind into extinction. Some believe that the Antichrist is already here but no one knows who he is - not even the Antichrist himself. In the beginning, he will take all people under his wing and make the world's population believe that he is the salvation to the turmoil that exists. Once he has the confidence of the people and is regarded as the Messiah, he will then lead the people to self-destruction. This is when the Second Coming of Christ will occur and the battle begins.

The solution to this is actually quite easy - people can't be followers and fall for what one man promises. Keep faith in God and ourselves and don't idolize anyone. There are also thoughts that a mysterious planet called Planet X or Nibiru may collide into Earth but scientists say that there is no evidence that this planet even exists. Comets from Planet X could also either hit Earth or disintegrate upon entering the atmosphere.

My question is... If there is no Planet X, why is it still being spoken about?

Nostradamus is probably the most well-known and highly regarded prophecies. He predicts that "the heavens will catch on fire". It is speculation that he meant nuclear warfare, solar storm, or maybe even Planet X crashing into Earth. His predictions were correct with the likes of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, Julius Caesar, and even the attacks of September 11. We can't stop solar storms or mysterious planets...but nuclear warfare? It doesn't need to come to such a man-made, violent end...does it?

The thought of a 2012 The End Of The World is very disturbing. I am going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that it is all just hype and we will all be able to breathe a sigh of relief and spend a nice Christmas season with our families.

I would like to hear your comments on this issue.