Santorum’s followers want to impose a theological twist to everything from social laws to public education. What makes evangelicals so special is that they want to quote a mythical American version of Jesus, as described by political factions that need to control how and what people think.  They are usually successful because their followers either do not want to fact check for themselves or are unable to do their own research.  Some of them actually say that it is sacrilegious to question the words of Jesus, or the words of GOD!  These same people actually believe politicians who claim that GOD has spoken to them, given them advice or told them things.

Santorum has made it very clear what he wants to do with America … with or without Congress.  Santorum represents the will of an American Minority.  However, he has expressed his belief that another crusade against Islamic countries is perfectly OK.  Santorum makes it clear he can happily exclude a great portion of the American Public by imposing the narrow rules dictated by his interpretation of what Jesus may or may not have wanted, regardless of the millennium we currently occupy.  

The earth is a very different place than it was when Jesus walked the earth.  Christians cannot even agree among themselves about interpreting the contents of the written accounts of the way things were in Jesus time.  The bible American Christians (not Catholics) use has been edited so many times, that it takes serious religious scholars to find out what  actually happened back then.  The whole debacle of Apocalypse is a contrivance between the 1200s to the 1500s and added to intimidate followers..  

The 2012 US Presidential campaign is turning out to be a platform for religions.  What difference does it make what religion our President is?  Where does the US Constitution mention that a religion is a requirement for a Presidential Candidate?

American Founding Fathers were raised in a culture that depended on the Bible translation endorsed by the Church of England.   And they rebelled. They made sure the United States Constitution would not impose any specific religious requirement on Americans or their representatives.  The responsibilities of Citizenship was more critical than religion.  This is what set America apart from it’s European roots.  The Founding Fathers did not ever want to have it’s future dictated by anyone’s dogma, even though several would have endorsed the idea, they realized it could doom the American Experiment into a dictatorship instead of a Democracy.

Modern day Evangelicals and other Christian sects have morphed their words from the highly edited King James English Translation of previous Christian Bible publications.  Western Culture has so removed itself from the origins of Christianity, that the hypocrasy they spout would be laughable.   The  words and history of Bible writers, hundreds of years after Jesus died, have been used to control whole populations by imposing restrictions on their behavior. The Bible these special people use was translated by committee to remove undesirable parts, to make King James happy.  King James, himself, was illiterate and had to rely on consultants.

WIKI: The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV,  is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611.^[3] First printed by the King’s PrinterRobert Barker,^[4][5] this was the third official translation into English; the first having been the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second was the Bishop’s Bible of 1568.^[6] In January 1604, King James I of England convened the Hampton Court Conference where a new English version was conceived in response to the perceived problems of the earlier translations as detected by the Puritans,^[7] a faction within the Church of England.^[8]

The King james Version of the Christian Bible is the least accurate of all “Mainstream” Christian writings.

Social Conservative Leader Gary Bauer Endorses Rick Santorum

By Napp Nazworth:  Social conservative leader Gary Bauer endorsed Rick Santorum at a campaign event in South Carolina on Saturday.

• Evangelical Leaders Plan Texas Meeting to Discuss Possible Endorsement
• Analysis: Can Santorum Unite the Evangelical Vote?

Quote: ”Would the potential attraction to Mormonism by simply having a Mormon in the White House threaten traditional Christianity by leading more Americans to a church that some Christians believe misleadingly calls itself Christian, is an active missionary church, and a dangerous cult?” (Santorum’s Philadelphia Inquirer column, Dec. 20, 2007)

The Christian Post:   Rick Santorum Hopes Christian Voters Will Look Beyond Mormon Faith of Romney, Huntsman

Santorum, a champion for social conservative issues, is the latest to weigh in on the contentious question, should Christians support a Mormon candidate for president.

Evangelical journalist Warren Cole Smith unequivocally says no. Last month, he wrote on Patheos.com “a vote for [Mitt] Romney is a vote for the LDS Church.”

The 53-year-old Catholic appeared before evangelical voters at the Faith and Freedom Conference this past weekend, alongside other GOP contenders. Like the other candidates, he emphasized his conservative stances on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

9 controversial Rick Santorum quotes

As soon as the conservative ex-senator stepped into the national spotlight, critics began attacking Santorum’s long history of odd claims and far-right beliefs

31 Rick Santorum Quotes That Prove He Would Be A Destructive President

Jewish groups slammed Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Friday, January 7, 2012, for telling listeners of a Boston radio show that “we always need a Jesus guy” in the campaign.

Santorum: “We always need a Jesus candidate”

Santorum: ”The idea that the Crusades and the fight of Christendom against Islam is somehow an aggression on our part is absolutely anti-historical. And that is what the perception is by the American Left who hates Christendom. … What I’m talking about is onward American soldiers. What we’re talking about are core American values.” (South Carolina campaign stop, Feb. 22, 2011)

Santorum: “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country.” And also, “Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

Santorum:  “there are no classes in America.” Using the term “middle class” means they “buy into the class warfare arguments of Barack Obama…something that should not be part of the Republican lexicon.”  (Twitter sage JSmooth995 clarified that in fact “everybody knows the term ‘middle class’ was invented by Bill Ayers and Obama just takes credit.” 

Santorum: ”All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis, they’re not Palestinians. There is no ‘Palestinian.’ This is Israeli land.” (Campaign stop in Iowa, Nov. 18, 2011)

Santorum: ”One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country…. Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.” (Speaking with CaffeinatedThoughts.com, Oct. 18, 2011)

Santorum: ”I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money; I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money.” (Campaign stop in Iowa, Jan. 2, 2012)

The list of defining quotes is endless.  Just Google or Bing “Rick Santorum Christian Quotes” and imagine your own life under the social rules described by this Presidential wannabe.  If you are a real Christian, you should be appalled by the things being said and done using the name of Jesus as a excuse or justification.  If you have any idea who the real Jesus was and what he was really trying to say, please compare the rhetoric with today’s politicians.  

The most important Jesus quotes I can give you is:

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

If you read the words of Jesus closely, he addresses each one of our personal souls and not speak about imposing your beliefs on anyone else, but making the word available for those who ask.  Jesus never asserted “Group Think”.  Jesus never spoke about a world of hypocritical robots.  His most important message is about the deeds each of us does, not the words spat from our mouths.

DollarsAndSense.org

Collect Now, or Later? Timing Your Social Security Benefits

With the current state of US and world economy, the alternative to jumping out a window, committing a heinous crime or planting your pup tent under an overpass, is retire early  and collect your meager social  security check at general delivery.  Yes, the post office still has General Delivery.

Have you made the right choice?  Maybe you are desperate, you see no options and you are hungry and scared. If early retirement is really your only option because you are really no longer capable of work, get it while you can.  But, if you have just collected your last unemployment check, early retirement may not be your best choice.  You are diluting your benefits.

NY TIMES

Social Security prefers to make a direct deposit of your benefits, but then, you will need to have a bank account.  If you need a check, you need an address.  Social Security does not have that little plastic card to load your payment on … yet.  That should help homeless recipients.  When that little card finally happens, but, it will be just as dangerous as carrying a roll of cash.  By retiring early you are locking yourself in to a reduced benefit for the rest of your days, unless of course you win the lottery … but that’s not how you should spend your benefit check, anyway. This is not your parent’s Social Security anymore.  This safety net has so many holes in it that it won’t fly anymore.  Congress can’t agree on “the fix”.  With all the brains in Washington working at odds with each other for so long, any good idea was lost long ago.  The pocket has a hole in it and no one has the guts to fix it.  Everything must have a political party stamp on it.  Whatever fix is offered must make a Republican or a Democrat look like a hero.  That is pure bullshit!  Who cares which party gets the gold medal, this is not a partisan problem.  I am not alone being totally disgusted with the constant bickering and game playing that accompanies watered down legislation to patch a broken system.  How dare they toss a totally unrelated provisions of law onto serious legislation meant to regulate greedy behavior by Credit Card companies.  

House Approves Measure to Allow Guns Into National Parks The bill to grant the District of Columbia a voting member in the House remains stalled after Senate Republicans attached a provision to the legislation that effectively would repeal many of Washington’s gun restrictions.   Yesterday’s provision, originally sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), would allow gun owners to bring the weapons into national parks and wildlife refuges as long as they are permitted by the laws of the state in which the park is located. The bill codifies a change the Bush administration had sought in its final months, but a federal judge blocked the effort in March.   Obama administration officials had not sought to overturn the judge’s ruling.  But Coburn, who had long sought the change, inserted his amendment this month on credit card legislation that is one of Obama’s top priorities. The move effectively forced Democrats to vote on the gun provision if they wanted to pass the credit card bill.  Democrats feel pressure to back bills on gun legislation or face political heat from the National Rifle Association, particularly in more rural districts.

This behavior is despicable.  The NRA can get it’s own legislation without sleazy tactics like this.  Does the NRA really expect an armed insurgency, or fear Democrats so much that they have to pressure their congressional puppets to sneak a law in between the sheets.  The NRA has demonstrated unrealistic paranoia and fuels equal paranoia among it’s rural base of gun advocates.

The US economy is no longer a partisan problem … not going into the sordid history about how this all happened.  But, with more “Baby Boomers” entering retirement age, the piggy bank is too low to sustain the load.  Those fortunate enough to have invested in great pension plans were also robbed, their piggy bank is also broken.  This formula is bad enough without historic job losses, too.  Boomers hit with job loss are not at the most desirable age to start over.  So, the formula is broken.  We have elected a bunch of ball players, not superbowl quality, instead of representatives for the US public. You can always get a menial job to supplement your benefit, but you can only make a certain amount before your benefits are reduced and your benefits become taxable.

The report says many over 50s will now have to work longer

Almost two thirds of over 50s fear they may have to work longer than planned as their savings and pensions have been hit by the recession, a study claims.

Base amount you can earn:

More U.S. workers retiring early

WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI) — A larger than expected number of U.S. residents are retiring early, many of them believed to be laid-off workers, analysts said.

Early retirement claims are up 25 percent from last year with more people choosing to retire at age 62 instead of 66, said Stephen C. Goss, chief actuary for the U.S. Social Security Administration.    Early retirement reduces Social Security benefits

by as much as 25 percent, a loss that comes on top of the stock market decline and a drop in home values.    The surge in younger retirees dispels expectations that older people who suffered financial losses in the recession would work longer to rebuild their assets, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. In a poll sponsored in December by CareerBuilder, 60 percent of workers older than age 60 said they planned to postpone retirement.    Another wave of laid-off older workers could choose early retirement when their unemployment benefits run out late this year and next year, Goss said.   The trend means many early retirees may outlast their financial assets,   said Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.    “As they get into their 70s and 80s, it will be increasingly inadequate,” Munnell said.

Pros and Cons

As a general rule, early or late retirement will give you about the same total Social Security benefits over your lifetime. If you retire early, the monthly benefit amounts will be smaller to take into account the longer period you will receive them. If you retire late, you will get benefits for a shorter period of time but the monthly amounts will be larger to make up for the months when you did not receive anything.

There are advantages and disadvantages to taking your benefit before your full retirement age. The advantage is that you collect benefits for a longer period of time. The disadvantage is your benefit is permanently reduced. Each person’s situation is different, so

* remember that, if you delay your benefits until after full retirement age, you may be eligible for delayed retirement credits that would increase your monthly benefit;
* keep in mind that there are other things to consider when making the correct decision about your retirement benefits and
* contact Social Security before you decide when to retire.

Clock ticks louder on Medicare and Social Security

The deep recession will mean a faster road to insolvency for Medicare and Social Security, the programs’ trustees warn today in their annual reports on the plans.    Their findings won’t shock anyone, and we’ve all been reading the same grim headlines about Medicare and Social Security for decades, to the point of numbness. The only difference is that the day the money theoretically runs out is getting ever closer — particularly for Medicare.    Social Security now is expected to begin paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the trust fund will be empty by 2037, four years sooner.    As for Medicare, it’s already paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes, and the trustees estimate the program will be insolvent by 2017, two years sooner than projected in last year’s report.

Read the summary of the trustees’ reports here.

With the government already racking up unprecedented budget deficits to bail out the economy and the financial system, the prospect of funding shortfalls in Medicare and Social Security becomes even more daunting. Will the Chinese pay for our retirement, too?

Unless some huge portion of the 76 million aging baby boomers decide to leave the country (for, say, Canada?), the options for keeping the programs solvent aren’t going to change: raise taxes or cut benefits spending, or both. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said President Obama “explicitly rejects the notion that Social Security is an untouchable politically and instead believes there is opportunity for a new consensus on Social Security reform.”

As the trustees’ report notes:

Social Security could be brought into actuarial balance over the next 75 years with changes equivalent to an immediate 16% increase in the payroll tax (from a rate of 12.4% to 14.4%) or an immediate reduction in benefits of 13%, or some combination of the two.    Ensuring that the system remains solvent on a sustainable basis beyond the next 75 years would require larger changes because increasing longevity will result in people receiving benefits for ever longer periods of retirement.

10 Things You Need to Know to Live on the Streets

By Walter Mosley and Rae Gomes, The Nation. Posted July 28, 2009.

Can Marijuana Help Rescue California’s Economy?

“The state of California is in a very, very precipitous economic plight. It’s in the toilet,” says California Democratic state assemblyman Tom Ammiano. “It looks very, very bleak, with layoffs and foreclosures, and schools closing or trying to operate four days a week. We have one of the highest rates of unemployment we’ve ever had. With any revenue ideas, people say you have to think outside the box, you have to be creative, and I feel that the issue of the decriminalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana fits that bill. It’s not new, the idea has been around, and the political will may in fact be there to make something happen.”

Ammiano may be right. A few days after he introduced the bill, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that states should be able to make their own rules for medical marijuana and that federal raids on pot dispensaries in California would cease. The move signaled a softening of the hard-line approach to medicinal pot use previous Administrations have taken. The nomination of Gil Kerlikowske as the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy may also signal a softer federal line on marijuana. If he is confirmed as the so-called drug czar, Kerlikowske will take with him experience as police chief of Seattle, where he made it clear that going after people for possessing marijuana was not a priority for his force.

Is Pot Good For You?

It turns out that the study of marijuana’s health effects is at once more complex and less advanced than you might imagine. “Interpretations [of marijuana research] may tell more about [one's] own biases than the data,” writes Mitch Earleywine in Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence, published in August by Oxford. For example: “Prohibitionists might mention that THC [delta-9 tetra-hydrocannabinol, the smile-producing chemical in pot] often appears in the blood of people in auto accidents. Yet they might omit the fact that most of these people also drank alcohol. Antiprohibitionists might cite a large study that showed no sign of memory problems in chronic marijuana smokers. Yet they might not mention that the tests were so easy that even a demented person could perform them.”

The Grass-Roots Marijuana Wars

California is the largest of 12 states allowing marijuana for certain medical uses, but the federal government considers all marijuana illegal. The conflicting statutes have led to an uncomfortable existence for California’s growing ranks of marijuana providers. “At any moment, the DEA can come kicking down the door,” says Don Duncan, part owner of a West Hollywood, Calif. dispensary of medical marijuana.

How Much Booze Is Good For You?

(WebMD) Light drinking helps heart health. But more than one drink a day for women and more than two daily drinks for men are harmful.  Despite the health benefit of moderate alcohol consumption, the researchers warn doctors against advising people to drink.
“Sobering statistics warn that moderate daily drinking is a slippery slope that many individuals cannot safely navigate,” University of Missouri cardiologist James H. O’Keefe, M.D.

Hat Tip to RawStory:

Ron Paul: Congress ‘drinks a lot of alcohol’ but won’t legalize pot

Members of Congress like to guzzle the booze, but when it comes to the questions of drugs and states’ rights, don’t ask them for a friendly ear … Arguing from a self-titled “faith-based, conservative perspective” was Stephen Baldwin.  Paul dismissed his concern as “silly.”
“The most addictive drug in the country, in the world, is nicotine,” he said. “Nobody talks about nicotine being a gateway drug, so there’s no sense to that. And besides, [marijuana] is not nearly as addictive as alcohol. If you’re a consistent person and you think the government should be regulating personal behavior, you should be in favor of prohibition of alcohol.”

Medical marijuana charges pit Californians against DEA

DEA has been actively shutting down bud dispensaries with their legal growing operations and prosecuting Californians in federal court. In the last two years of the Bush administration, the DEA raided over 100 medical marijuana growers and sellers  …  Since the passing of the Compassionate Use Act, 11 other states have followed suit with medical marijuana laws. Nowhere is it as popular or common as California, but Oregon is proposing selling and taxing its own marijuana, and last year Massachusetts voted 65% to make the possession of an ounce of bud equivalent to driving over the speed limit.

Police Defend Patient’s Outdoor Medical Marijuana

(Oregon) – With a doctor’s prescription and a little backyard space you can turn your backyard into a medicinal garden providing patients with medicine. Here is something I found this morning regarding a patient having to protect and defend himself against people trying to stop him from growing his own natural and 100% legal medicinal cannabis.

The problem with the above way of thinking is that just because medicinal marijuana is there, does not mean they should show no control and forget about it. Alcoholics enter grocery stores all day long and alcohol is available everywhere that ex-drinkers frequent. Marijuana is medicine, these people cannot stop a patient who is within his legal rights and within state law from growing his own medicinal cannabis. He even built a cage around the plants and there are fences and locks in place!  Patients should never be required to turn to the black market for medicine, the same way anxiety, depression, pain medicine is prescribed to Americans every day… marijuana should be available to anyone who needs it. Especially Migraine sufferers who suffer daily pain and anxiety regarding when and if an attack will occur and cause nausea at the workplace and interfering with work hours the way it has me for decades.

California: Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act, allows the medical use of marijuana in California. The State has mandated a necessary fee increase in order  to comply with  with Health and Safety Code 11362.755(a) of Senate Bill 420 (Vasconcellos, Chapter 875, Statutes of 2003), which requires the Department’s ID card implementation, development, and support activities be fully fee supported.

New fees effective 04/1/07 : Non Medi-Cal beneficiaries – $161.00; Medi-Cal beneficiaries – $80.50

There will always be scams.  Regular prescription drugs are forged every day.  Add medical Marijuana.  This does not make Marijuana any different.  Prescription drugs are intended to address people’s medical conditions.  Many people even scam their doctors to get prescription drugs.  This comes with the prescription drug territory.  People will always seek a chemical solution to their conditions, real or perceived.  This mindset was inherited from everyone’s ancestors. Cannabis has an ancient history of ritual usage as an aid to trance and has been traditionally used in a religious context throughout the old world.

In the current economy, the cost of enforcing Marijuana Laws, specifically,  should be revisited.

Costs of Prohibition:

• Marijuana accounts for 15,000 felony arrests per year, at a cost to the state of about $100 million. Over half of arrestees are black and minorities.
• CAMP helicopters disrupt the peace of our wilderness, invading personal privacy and promoting the spread of cultivation to public lands.
• State eradication programs destroy an estimated $300 million in marijuana per year — revenue that is lost to the local economy and diverted to foreign suppliers.
• Californians consume about $3 – 6 billion worth of marijuana per year, representing some $250 – 500 million in lost sales taxes alone.
• The war on marijuana has deprived us of an economically valuable crop, cannabis hemp, a productive source of fiber, biomass, protein and oil.
• The war on marijuana has cruelly deprived medical patients of valuable therapy for nausea from chemotherapy, AIDS, glaucoma, chronic pain and spasticity, migraines, depression and other diseases.

Money Spent on the War On Drugs this Year : The U.S. federal government spent over $19 billion dollars in 2003 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $600 per second. The budget has since been increased by over a billion dollars.

People Arrested for Cannabis Law Offenses this Year:  Police arrested an estimated 872,720 persons for cannabis violations in 2007, the highest annual total ever recorded in the United States, according to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Of those charged with cannabis violations, approximately 89 percent, 775,137 Americans were charged with possession only. An American is now arrested for violating cannabis laws every 38 seconds.

How long can America support a loosing war on Marijuana, specifically, that only makes illegal suppliers rich and hurts actual medical marijuana users?  The reality appears to be a government investment in keeping marijuana illegal, so corrupt government officials can line their pockets with kickbacks from drug lords … drug lords pride themselves in how many politicians and law enforcement officials they own!  We see the results of too many powerful drug kingpins fighting over territory on the Mexican-American border today!  Imagine what would happen if America took Marijuana off their profit table?  They would be left with smuggling hard drugs and trafficking people.  That would be a much more righteous mission, worth the cost!  Legalizing Medical Marijuana would hit the pockets of the illegal drug industry!  Government officials may be less inclined to be bought for the purpose of  human trafficking and heroin smuggling!

From OpenCongress.org:

• Rep. Ronald Paul [R, TX-14] [13]   H.R.5843 Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the P… [12]
• Barack Obama [11]   H.R.5842 Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act [7]
• Rep. Barney Frank [D, MA-4] [6]   H.R.45 Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record… [4]
• Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA] [6]   H.R.1 Trade and Globalization Adjustment Assist… [3]
• Hillary Clinton [6]   H.R.1955 Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terr… [3]

Tagged: Clash of Cultures, Clash of Opinions, Collateral, conflict of interest, contradictions, Corruption, Crime prevention, Crime victims, culture, disinformation, Domestic Policy, FDA, GREED, health, Medical Marijuana, pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceuticals, profiteers, prohibition, Risk Management, social policy, Stimulus, Tax Dollars, War Cost, War on Drugs ]]> http://truthhugger.com/2009/03/15/can-marijuana-rescue-the-economy-in-2010-like-booze-did-in-1933/feed/ 6 BossKitty prohibition_prescription_front1 marijuana_sql booze id_card_020806 stephenellis060106f 08ptnews prescription_1_smaller_size_jpg_after_gifbot_with_ellipse http://truthhugger.com/2008/12/07/us-health-care-plunges-texas-drops-9-points/ http://truthhugger.com/2008/12/07/us-health-care-plunges-texas-drops-9-points/#comments Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:37:39 +0000 bosskitty http://truthhugger.com/?p=2725 ]]> Ranking: Texas is 46th this year; it was 37th in 2007.

• Strengths: Strengths include a low prevalence of smoking at 19.3 percent of the population, a low prevalence of binge drinking at 15.0 percent of the population, a  low rate of cancer deaths at 186.3 deaths per 100,000  population and a moderate infant mortality rate at 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.

• Challenges: Challenges include a high rate of uninsured population at 24.9 percent, a high percentage of children in poverty at 25.0 percent of persons under age 18, a high incidence of infectious disease at 23.8 cases per 100,000 population and limited access to primary care with 95.0 primary care physicians per 100,000 population. Texas ranks lower for health determinants than for health outcomes, indicating that overall healthiness may remain low in future years.

• Significant Changes: In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 22.0 percent to 25.0 percent of persons under age 18.  In the past year, the prevalence of smoking increased from 17.9 percent to 19.3 percent of the population. Since 1990, the infant mortality rate decreased from 9.3 to 6.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.  Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased from 12.3 percent to 28.6 percent of the population.

• Health Disparities: In Texas, low birth weight babies are more common among non-Hispanic blacks at 13.9 percent than Hispanics at 7.2 percent. Access to health care varies significantly by race and ethnicity in the state; 29.3 percent of non-Hispanic blacks and 55.7 percent of Hispanics lack health insurance compared to 16.8 percent of non-Hispanic

U.S. health gains stall, could reverse

… look at nearly two decades of progress in access to medical care, immunizations, prenatal care, infant mortality, heart disease deaths, smoking cessation, deaths by infectious disease, violent crime and occupational fatalities.
America’s Health Rankings™,  provides an annual analysis of national health on a state-by-state basis and ranking of the healthiest and least healthy states. The 2008 Rankings reveal the overall health of the U.S. population has not improved for the fourth year in a row.

The health status of Americans has stagnated.  America’s Health Rankings™ shows that after steady improvement from 1990-2000 the health of the American people has leveled off, despite an increase in health care spending and major advances in medical technology.

… our health care system is heavily tilted toward sick care at the expense of well care or keeping people healthy.  About 95 cents of every dollar spent in the U.S. on health goes to diagnose or treat disease after it occurs, leaving less than 5 cents on the dollar to prevent disease.

It’s not enough to just increase access to medical care.  America’s Health Rankings™ points out, health outcomes are the result of multiple factors that are intertwined, including personal behaviors, public and health policy, community and environment, and clinical care.  Real reform will address all of those factors.

Other findings from the report:

• From 2007 to 2008, 36 states had positive changes in their overall health scores and 14 had negative changes.
• Utah had the lowest prevalence of smoking (11.7%)
• Massachusetts had the lowest rate of uninsured citizens (7.9%)
• Colorado had the lowest obesity rate (19.3%)
• The percentage of uninsured Hispanics is 34.2%, compared with 17.7% of non-Hispanic blacks and 12.2% of non-Hispanic whites
• Non-Hispanic blacks had the highest rate of low birth weight infants (13.8%), followed by non-Hispanic whites (7.2%) and Hispanics (6.8%)
• Blacks have a more than double the rate of cardiovascular death than other races (395.7 versus 181.8 per 100,000 population)

This report can be downloaded from America’s Health Rankings 2008.

What’s Wrong with America’s Health Care

Doctors ditch drug samples to avoid influencing treatment

5 misconceptions about health care

The United States is No. 1 in only one sense: the amount we shell out for health care. We have the most expensive system in the world per capita, but we lag behind many developed countries on virtually every health statistic you can name.

We rank near the bottom of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, just ahead of Cuba and way behind Japan, France, Italy, Sweden and Canada, countries whose governments (gasp!) pay for the lion’s share of health care. Infant mortality in the United States is 6.8 per 1,000 births, more than twice as high as in Japan, Norway and Sweden and worse than in Poland and Hungary.

US Compared to other nations is SAD

US Map of Health Rankings – Southern US has poorest Health

… interactive map provides a quick  snapshot of 2008 findings nationwide, as well  as state-by-state results. Select the appropriate tab or roll over your state to learn more.

Texas has lost ground in the past decade, this is sad because it has declined under the watchful eye of the Republican Party who idolized George W Bush.  Many Texas Republican politicians and a few Texas Democrats have been caught in the hypocritical pocket of Corporate Lobbyists .  The Republican Party, in general, has favored BIG Business, including Medical Corporations who see the sick as dollar signs.  Texas looks like it leads the pack in putting dollars above life quality.  Texas needs to reinstate the Hippocratic oath and throw out the Hypocritical oath it has been following.

Texas Health Care Association

Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC)

Texas Health Resources

By excluding the insurance challenged among us, the American Health industry is no longer in responsible to the patient. Doctors and practitioners are forced to genuflect to big business for their daily bread.  They are forced to limit or expand treatment as dictated by the payer and the chain of medical testing providers they must support, according to the insurance networks they are bound to. Those fortunate Americans, who can afford to travel to foreign medical facilities, often have a more success receiving treatment without the burdens of industry dictated treatment programs.

Many American hospitals are taking it upon themselves to repatriate seriously injured or ill immigrants because they cannot find nursing homes willing to accept them without insurance. Medicaid does not cover long-term care for illegal immigrants, or for newly arrived legal immigrants, creating a quandary for hospitals, which are obligated by federal regulation to arrange post-hospital care for patients who need it.

American immigration authorities play no role in these private repatriations, carried out by ambulance, air ambulance and commercial plane. Most hospitals say that they do not conduct cross-border transfers until patients are medically stable and that they arrange to deliver them into a physician’s care in their homeland. But the hospitals are operating in a void, without governmental assistance or oversight, leaving ample room for legal and ethical transgressions on both sides of the border.

Josh Haner/The New York Times Luis Alberto Jiménez, an illegal immigrant injured in a car accident in Florida, was treated at a community hospital, which eventually sent him back to Guatemala. He spends most of his days inside a one-room house; only the presence of visitors, who can help him into his wheelchair, gives him the rare chance to get out of bed.

See the story: Mr. Jiménez’s benchmark case exposes a little-known but apparently widespread practice. Many American hospitals are taking it upon themselves to repatriate seriously injured or ill immigrants because they cannot find nursing homes willing to accept them without insurance. Medicaid does not cover long-term care for illegal immigrants, or for newly arrived legal immigrants, creating a quandary for hospitals, which are obligated by federal regulation to arrange post-hospital care for patients who need it.

This is one of those life or death situations that challenge the system America has implemented.  This is the LOOPHOLE where the federal system allows medical profiteers to control. Because Americans are hopelessly divided about immigration, inequities will prevail.  American criminals get more humanitarian treatment than “illegals”.  The attitude that “illegals” don’t exist, therefore, don’t deserve consideration for healthcare, etc.  There is a disconnect here.  Some hateful Americans accept the surface of a story, then they are done with it, they accept that the victim got what he deserved … we should not have treated him for so long, anyway.  Fortunately, not all Americans are hateful.  The mind boggling solution to our immigration issue requires in depth and equitable study.  America’s Immigration Service has no authority for this situation. The INS has not been given the resources or authority to enforce equitably, because the laws are too broad and skewed toward controlling criminal/drug/terrorist “invasion”.  We seldom see in depth headlines addressing individual case by case issues, Hat Tip to NY Times and DEBORAH SONTAG for describing the personal element of disparity.  Broad brush strokes of American immigration policies miss too many poignent human stories. To catch a few, many must suffer. Again, the ‘baby with the bathwater’ story still applies.

The underground economy in America is flourishing as a result of Federal Policies.  The poor, disenfranchised, illegal immigrants and just un-insured Americans, are forced to seek medical assistance from un-licensed practitioners and shamans. This segment of America’s population is forced to roll the dice and pray the help they receive works.  They have no recourse … they are not covered by a fair and impartial justice or medical system.  They are the best target for con artists and criminals.  They are extorted into participating in crime as payback for any help they receive.  Best example, they are targets for shady tax practitioners, who use their Tax ID Numbers to forge tax returns.  The tax preparers get the bulk of the bogus refund (several thousand dollars) and leave the illegal to face the consequences from the IRS.

NEW YORK, Jul 23 (IPS) – In the name of “global war on terror”, the U.S. government is waging war on non-governmental organisations by applying “shortsighted, undemocratic policies” that are “constraining the critical activities of the charitable and philanthropic sectors, stifling free speech, and ultimately impeding the fight against terrorism.”

This is the conclusion of a new white paper prepared by two prominent non-governmental organisations, OMB Watch and Grantmakers Without Borders. OMB stands for the government’s Office of Management and Budget, the White House office responsible for devising and submitting the president’s annual budget proposal to Congress.

The report charges that the government views nonprofits as “conduits for terrorist funding and a breeding ground for aggressive dissent.” It accuses the courts of being “overly deferential” to the U.S. Treasury Department, which is responsible for conducting programmes designed to stem the flow of money to terrorist organisations.

It contends that federal agencies “ignore nonprofits’ calls for change,” and says, “Congress has not utilised its oversight powers to review counterterrorism programmes.”

The report says that the U.S. nonprofit community today “operates in fear of what may spark (the government) to use its power to shut them down.”

Collateral Damage: How the War on Terror Hurts Charities, Foundations, and the People They Serve

This paper is the result of collaborative research conducted by OMB Watch and Grantmakers Without Borders. We believe charities in the United States and throughout the world play a key role in democratic systems by giving citizens a vehicle for participation, providing tools and information that help people get involved, and delivering assistance to those in need. Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have witnessed counterterrorism programs erode the freedom and ability of charities and their funders to carry out their missions and improve the lives of the world’s people. We believe that this is damaging civil society in the United States and negatively impacting the nation’s reputation and effectiveness on the global stage. We hope this paper will serve as a resource for charities, foundations, and policymakers as they seek to understand the impacts that counterterrorism measures have on charities and as they look to develop more equitable policies that protect the inherent rights of charities and the people the organizations serve.

Gw/oB Releases Collateral Damage: How the War on Terror Hurts Charities, Foundations, and the People They Serve
On July 14, 2008, Gw/oB and OMB Watch released Collateral Damage: How the War on Terror Hurts Charities, Foundations, and the People They Serve. Collateral Damage documents the impacts that the war on terror is having on charities, foundations, and underserved populations around the globe. The authors make it clear that shortsighted, undemocratic policies are stifling free speech, constraining the critical activities of the charitable and philanthropic sectors, and ultimately impeding the fight against terrorism. Rather than recognizing the sector as a valuable ally in the war on terror, government unfairly characterizes nonprofits as conduits for terrorist funding and a breeding ground for aggressive dissent.
To read Gw/oB’s press release and the report, please click here.

According to OMB Watch and Grantmakers Without Borders, the current U.S. counterterrorism framework is not working well when it comes to U.S. nonprofits. Rather than recognizing the sector as a valuable ally in the war on terror, government unfairly characterizes nonprofits as conduits for terrorist funding and a breeding ground for aggressive dissent.

This is the Cause and Effect of a dysfunctional relationship between the US Government and the welfare of the world. The old habit of condemning a whole class for the sins of a few is rolling our consciousness backwards. This is bigotry and racism. As the US charts its course inward to self-preservation, the welfare of others becomes more and more conditional.

Protectionism is the name for withdrawing support for your neighbors, because you perceive someone has “wronged” you … everyone must suffer. Protectionism is frequently criticised as harming the people it is meant to help, instead of aiding them. This is where the US finds itself today. There is enough shame to go around.

“… in the face of this well-documented and ongoing success, are protectionists gaining so much traction by criticizing trade and calling for a return to a utopian, isolationist past that never was?

As it turns out, they’re part of a long, if not proud, tradition.

Protectionists throughout history have had great success exciting passions by appealing to fear: fear of lost jobs, fear of cultural dilution, and fear of the other. Protectionist rhetoric is a proven vote getter, so it’s no surprise to see it dusted off and trotted out like clockwork every election cycle.

What protectionists don’t have is a track record of being right.”

EPA: Value of American life drops to $6.9 Million

— It’s not just the American dollar that’s losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn’t worth what it used to be. The “value of a statistical life” is $6.9 million in today’s dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May — a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.

American lives worth $1 million less than 2003

The value of an American life has fallen by nearly $1 million in five years, according to a US government agency.

While the “value of a statistical life” was considered to be between $7.8 million and $7.96 million from 1996 to 2003, today it is just $6.9 million, the Environmental Protection Agency says. The estimate is important because it is used by government agencies when drawing up regulations: they compare the cost of a proposed rule with its life-saving benefits according to the official value placed on a human life. Therefore the less a life is considered to be worth, the smaller the justification for costly legislation that could, for example, protect people from pollution because the measure would be seen as too expensive given the value of the lives saved. The EPA says the change is based on improved economic studies and consumer preferences. Rather than a human price tag, the “value of a statistical life” is based on what someone is prepared to pay to avoid certain risks as well as how much workers who take on additional risks are compensated by their employers, the agency says. The change was made in two stages. In 2004, the agency reduced the estimated value of a life to $7.15 million dollars. Then in May,  following a rule governing train and boat air pollution, the agency removed the normal adjustment for one year’s inflation. The two changes added up to an 11 percent reduction in the value, based on today’s dollar. Similar calculations by the Bush administration have proved highly controversial. In 2002, the EPA decided the value of elderly people was 38 percent less than that of people under 70. The agency reversed its position after the move became public.

Value of a Statistical Life (VSL)

Executive Order 12866 requires agencies to examine the costs and benefits of both proposed and final regulatory actions. DOT administrations promulgate rules to enhance safety and protect the environment, for which the monetary value of preventing injuries and loss of life must be estimated among the benefits. Administrations also undertake investments and administrative actions that must be evaluated in terms of their safety benefits.

Value of life: … with a limited supply of resources or infrastructural capital (e.g. ambulances), or skill at hand, it is impossible to save every life, so some trade-off must be made. Also, this argumentation neglects the statistical context of the term. It is not commonly attached to lives of individuals or used to compare the value of one person’s life relative to another person’s. It is mainly used in circumstances of saving lives as opposed to taking or “producing” lives.

In risk management activities such as in the areas of workplace safety, and insurance, it is often useful to put a precise economic value on a given life.

Like Britain, America has to put valuation on human life … insurance agencies and lawyers have done this for years. The human value is determined by the earning potential an individual has, computed by their age. No emotions can be included in the equation.  Insert your face into this dollar and re-adjust your ego.

Zero Dollar Value, Your Picture Here

(CNN) — How would the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin feel about the way the United States has turned out 232 years after declaring its independence?

These powerful Senators remain in place to make our Founding Fathers roll in their graves.They focus on promoting misguided paranoia about a war that was really about oil, power, money and a sick religous agenda. The 4th of July should remind Americans about the original intention of our Founding Fathers.

What’s patriotism? Definitions differ

Fourth of July Celebrations Database

Excerpts from:

Declaration of The Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

July 6, 1775

Honour, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them.

In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it — for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our fore-fathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before.

Written Statement of

The Transgender Law Center

To the

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions

Committee on Education and Labor

United States House of Representatives

“An Examination of Discrimination Against Transgender Americans in the Workplace”

This historic hearing took place on Thursday, June 26, 2008.

Rayburn House Office Building

June 26, 2008

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is a California state-wide, non-profit civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. Created in response to the overwhelming discrimination that transgender people and our families face in nearly every institution in California, we utilize direct legal services, education, community organizing, and policy and media advocacy to overcome this discrimination and help the state become one where every person’s gender identity is respected and supported. TLC is honored to submit this statement regarding pervasive discrimination against transgender Americans in the workplace, and we thank you for your consideration of this important issue.

Our statement draws on the daily contact we have with transgender community members, as well as our advocacy work and research. Every year we assist nearly 1,000 transgender individuals with legal issues. Approximately 10% of our clients contact us regarding discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Countless others contact us with issues that directly affect their ability to secure and maintain employment, such as access to health care, identity documents, and housing.

While limited research exists on transgender people in the workplace, all available studies and anecdotal evidence point to extremely disproportionate unemployment and underemployment among transgender people. This bleak employment picture is largely a consequence of the discrimination that too many transgender people experience in employment, education, and other areas that affect transgender people’s ability to secure and maintain employment.

The attached “Good Jobs NOW!” report, supported by the Women’s Foundation of California
and conducted by TLC and the San Francisco Bay Guardian, provides sorely needed data on the
economic reality experienced by transgender people and their families. In early 2006, 194 selfidentified
transgender people living, working, or looking for work in San Francisco were surveyed. The outcomes are stark.
Among “Good Jobs NOW!” respondents, nearly 60% earned under $15,300 annually and only 8% earned over $45,900. Forty percent did not have a bank account of any kind. Only 25% were working full-time, with 16% working part-time, and nearly 9% reporting no source of income.  Over 57% percent reported experiencing employment discrimination, but as few as 12% took any kind of action and only 3% filed an administrative or civil complaint.  These findings are made even more compelling by the fact that the survey was conducted
exclusively in San Francisco. Both San Francisco and California have strong employment nondiscrimination
laws and regulations that support safer and more effective integration of transgender people into the workplace. However, a lack of Federal protections has a tremendous effect on the transgender community nation-wide. Every week transgender people living in states without protective legislation call TLC. These hard working Americans have little to no recourse in their home states.
Allowing employers to make decisions about hiring, firing, promotions, and discipline based on a worker’s identity goes against America’s core value of equal opportunity. All too often, we see transgender Americans forced out of successful careers when they express their gender identity.
Many transgender people fear and experience discrimination and therefore must either hide who they are, to the detriment of their health; leave jobs they love in order to transition without risking termination; or face rampant harassment and discrimination in their current workplace.  Federal protection from discrimination and harassment based on gender identity would liberate the transgender community from this stark reality. Such legislation would allow transgender Americans to continue contributing to our country’s workforce without fear of being terminated
simply because of who we are.
We urge the Subcommittee to recognize this issue of basic fairness. Transgender Americans deserve to be ourselves in a workplace where we are judged exclusively on our ability to do our jobs. Work is an integral part of our lives, of who we are, just like our gender. No American should have to choose between their gender, and making a living.

Both Rep. Frank and Rep. Baldwin were key organizers of the hearing.

8 Min. Hearing testimony …

The general public has no concept of the personal toll it takes on families and friends of people with gender identity issues.  When there is something very wrong with how you feel and how you are perceived, there is no word to describe the pain.  It is an emotional, gut and heart pain that grinds in the background of every day life.  Being treated like a side show, when every cell starves for normal blending into a normal social context, must be excruciating.  Some don’t survive.  Those who survive their own torment, may fall victim to hate crimes.  The education system has done a poor job of explaining different conditions humans find themselves in, because they are born that way.  Many poorly educated people see human differences as a free ticket to abuse. Some religious dogma fails to remind that “all God’s creatures” deserve respect.

If religion becomes complicit in destructive behavior toward other humans, it’s representatives must be held accountable.  The excuse that “God hates” this person or that person, is a criminal interpretation, it should be treated as such. God cannot hate it’s creations, God’s spokespersons interject their personal hatreds into their fiery rhetoric.  This is sad because God has no spokespersons, all that’s left are interpreters.  God speaks for God.  The Judeo, Christian, Muslim family had originators that claimed to be God’s spokespersons and started great religious movements.  Those spokespersons left their words behind to be treated as law.  What happened next was morphing and division.  Everything humans do is made possible by God.  Discriminating is not understanding, fully, what God really had in mind.   Mistreatment and crimes against others are not acceptable, whatever religion one claims to represent.

]]> http://truthhugger.com/2008/06/28/house-committee-on-education-and-labor-hears-transgender-issues/feed/ 1 BossKitty http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/23/burma-to-let-in-all-aid-workers-for-how-long/ http://truthhugger.com/2008/05/23/burma-to-let-in-all-aid-workers-for-how-long/#comments Fri, 23 May 2008 11:59:07 +0000 bosskitty http://truthhugger.wordpress.com/?p=274 ]]> Burma’s top leader has agreed to let all foreign aid workers into the country for relief work in cyclone-hit areas, UN head Ban Ki-moon has said.

After talks in Burma’s remote capital, Naypyidaw, with Gen Than Shwe, Mr Ban said the decision was a breakthrough.

But correspondents say Burma has a record of withdrawing promises made to the UN, and it is not clear how much access aid workers will get.

About 78,000 people died and 56,000 are missing after the 2 May cyclone. Burma’s military leaders had previously refused to allow a full-scale relief effort by foreign aid workers.

They had said that the relief phase of the aid operation was over and that the government was now focusing on reconstruction.

‘Flexible position’

The senior leader had until recently failed to respond to the secretary general’s letters and phone calls.

‘Show camp’

On Thursday, Mr Ban flew over flooded rice fields and destroyed villages and visited a government relief camp in the Irrawaddy delta.

A UN official privately called it a “show camp”, says the BBC’s Laura Trevelyan, in Burma with the secretary general.

Mr Ban said he was “very upset” by the devastation he saw, adding that the international community stood ready to overcome the tragedy.

Western governments have backed Mr Ban’s visit, calling for pressure on Burma’s leadership to do more to help the cyclone victims.

Burmese Blogs

There are those in the Burmese diaspora with relatives in the worst-affected areas who have waited for days with no news from home.

Dr Lun Shwe says on his Burmese language blog that his wife’s family is from Bogalay – one of the worst hit areas.

“We are very anxious and desperate. We are really worried. We are waiting for news but we know it will probably be bad news,” he says in plea entitled “Give back our Irrawaddy!”

He focuses his anger on the failure of the government to warn the public of the advent of the storm.

Ko Moe Thee, a well-known student leader from the 1988 uprising, writes in his US-based blog Golden Colour Revolution posts an e-mail he received from a relief mission which describes how the authorities have obstructed their efforts to distribute aid.

“Now, all the NGOs are trying to support and go to the affected area, and but we cannot go immediately as gov don’t want to permit it,” the email says.

How long can this crisis go without full coverage and assistance? The junta has teased aid workers again and again with promises to allow foreign assistance. They withdraw their permission as easily as they grant it. They keep trying to cover up their inadequacies. Burma is not the exclusive resort for the military elite. There is a whole population that is totally disconnected from those who RULE their future survival. There is a glaring difference between RULING a country and GOVERNING a country. Separation of identity and experience does not allow those in charge to identify or understand the plight of their population. The history of disconnect between leaders and the led is best remembered in the French Revolution. The population allowed themselves to be suppressed without a voice for hundreds of years before they finally turned on the suppressors. How long will the Burmese people tolerate this tyrannical junta? Is this the final blow? Is there a country willing to assist the people? South East Asian dictatorships must be addressed seriously by the modern concept of allowing the people to have a voice determining their future and their welfare. The age old example of allowing the people to suffer to protect the elite few is obsolete and has no place in this century. We are a global community that is only as strong as the weakest link. The weakest are the most vulnerable to breed disease and spread it to the rest of the world. Health and welfare are no longer isolated from the rest of us. Tyrannical approaches to this concept threaten the welfare of the world.

Children, elderly now dying from dysentery in Myanmar, says Church World Service

Senior General Than Shwe, the “old man” of Myanmar

How Nargis Devastated an Already Vulnerable Land

Degradated mangroves exacerbated Burma cyclone disaster

Burma: A Human Rights Disaster and Threat to Regional Security