Free Republic

A recent incident in which a 61-year old woman was initially denied life-saving surgery, then granted it after a media hubbub, was characterized as a “prudent cost-containment procedure” by the National Health Service. “As a general proposition, a 61-year old doesn’t have much social value,” NHS spokesman Winston Hardman explained. “Naturally, the first step in our cost-containment procedure is to deny service -- even if that means the individual will die as a result. If there is a public uproar sufficient to persuade us that the scrutiny being given to a particular case warrants a revised decision, well, we will...

Since Arizona’s local law enforcement began enforcing illegal immigration laws and an employer sanctions law went into effect, illegal immigrants have been fleeing the state in large numbers. The effects have been far-ranging. Commuters are reporting fewer vehicles on the freeways, shortening their rush-hour commutes. What had become a serious transportation problem in Arizona is losing its urgency. English Learner Language (ELL) students started dropping out of school. This helped end a confrontation between the state legislature and a liberal federal judge who had ordered the state to spend more money on ELL classes. Fewer illegal immigrants are using hospital...

As many of you know my wife just immigrated to the U.S. She is living in the Denver area and needs some help finding a job and social services. My mom is helping her but she is starting to get older and this is all new to her. So if any of you freepers live in the Denver area and can give her a hand let me know. I will be forever in your debt.

Here's an update from the folks at Pro-Life Corner about the odd behavior at the abortuary in Rockford, Illinos, specifically dealing with this anti-Christian display in one of the windows: Note that the button reads "Jesus says this clinic stays open." Interestingly, this display has some things in common with voodoo altars, (see the Pro-Life Corner article for full details) but Father Euteneuer of Human Life International says, “It's not voodoo nor mockery--it is blasphemy from a demonic industry.” Not included in the article is this pic they forwarded to us of the "Condom Monster" greeting pro-life protestors at the...

Today's article on smoking restrictions and the "wellness" movement makes no mention of a politically incorrect truth: some people smoke because they find net positive benefits in it. Nicotine is not just an addictive drug, it is a powerful drug which affects the mind in ways that are often positive. Now let me add that I do note advocate people taking up smoking. I have no financial interest in tobacco, have never owned a tobacco stock, and if tobacco companies have advertised on American Thinker, I have not noticed it. (I would not get rid of their ads if they...

A man awaiting trial on a murder charge is suing Benton County, Arkansas, complaining that the “skimpy rations” he has been fed in the county jail caused him to lose more than 100 pounds during eight months in jail. “I used to be a sturdy 400-plus pounds,” Laswell boasted. “Now, I’m practically skin and bones. It’s cruel and unusual punishment.” Laswell is being assisted in his suit by the ACLU. “This is but another sorry example of the pattern of torture and abuse that has overtaken the U.S. penal system under the Bush Administration,” said ACLU spokesman, Bertram Petty. “Starving...

More than half of the task force members who will oversee the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s most important diagnostic handbook have ties to the drug industry, reports a consumer watchdog group. The Web site for Integrity in Science, a project of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, highlights the link between the drug industry and the all-important psychiatric manual, called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The handbook is the most-used guide for diagnosing mental disorders in the United States. The guide has gone through several revisions since it was first published, and...

Digging through some old papers a few years ago, my mother-in-law came across the hospital bill for when her second son was born in 1958. They had no insurance. Few did in those days, and the bill totaled $75. That included a week's stay in the hospital. In 1993 we were expecting our second child, and also had no insurance. We managed to save up some money and contacted the hospital regarding paying the bill ourselves. They said prepaying meant we could spend only $2,000, only if there were no complications and it included only 3 days in the hospital....

Watch the YouTube clip in this post... http://mkfreeberg.webloggin.com/barracks/ ...and then take what you think would be the appropriate action.

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China's Health Ministry strengthened surveillance and dispatched specialists to eastern China's Anhui province as the death toll from a virulent virus climbed to 22, the country's Xinhua news agency reported.

Five weeks ago, we adopted a healthy 6 month old cat from our local PetSmart. He had been in foster care since he and his kitty siblings were found when they were six to eight weeks old. He was in fine condition, and we met his foster mom who seemed honest and sincere in trying to find the right home for a kitty she clearly loved. Anywho, the cat developed a cold within a few days of coming to live with us. I think he was shaking the cold when he started having much worse troubles. He stopped eating, and...

Despite the fact that Laura Ashworth told family and friends she wanted to donate one of her kidneys to her mother, the United Kingdom’s Human Tissue Authority declared that the disposition of the deceased woman’s organs would be determined by normal protocol. “People may believe that their bodies and organs belong to them,” said Carl Marks, spokesman for the Human Tissue Authority. “But they’d be wrong. It is the collective well-being of the nation is the governing factor. The law has declared that bodies and organs are the public’s resources and appointed us to decide how they will be distributed.”...

Well, after a long haul and a master's degree, my daughter was notified this morning that she will be a member of the USUHS School of Medicine Class of 2012! This was her first-choice medical school, and she is elated. After 6 weeks of officer training this summer, she will be commissioned an Army 2LT, and will begin school in August or September. Her brother, an Annapolis graduate and Marine 2ndLt. is happy for his sister, but has reservations about her service selection. My wife and I have begun practicing the term "Hooah", but we will continue to sit on...

Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), son of Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), boasted that his personal struggles with alcoholism, substance abuse and mental illness have made him a better member of Congress. “Look, the majority who elected me to serve as their representative obviously have mental problems of their own,” Kennedy admitted. “Drunks, addicts and the deranged deserve to be represented by someone they can more easily identify with. I’m their man.”

In light of what Kathleen [Seidel] and other scientists are going through, and the fact that there continues to be no scientific support for the ongoing scares being directed at innocent young parents over mercury exposures and vaccinations for their children, it is egregious that this article published in the British Medical Journal last week has not even been reported. As Owen Dyer wrote in the Journal on April 19th: Wakefield admits fabricating events The doctor whose study triggered a collapse in public confidence in the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine told a disciplinary panel last week that...

Join Honest and Eeevil for two hours of common sense conservative discussion. This week we'll talk about energy and our government's role in the current situation, and the implications of the Security and Prosperity Partnership. http://www.spp.gov (to read about the SPP, you know, the one that doesn't exist but has a government suffix!) Call 646 478 5613 on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 8 pm est. The show is podcast, so just plug the UrL: http://www. blogtalkradio.com/freedom into Itunes and all the shows will be automatically loaded. Bring your popcorn/and or margueritas, we're gonna need 'em! Well, I know I...

What? The Chinese are just going nuts now on way to prove that the west is just anti-China and not really pro-Tibet. This posted on Shanghai Daily by Gideon Polya Intersting mand this Polya guy. He is very anti-west. Click on his name to see some of his articles. He could probable get elected on the Democratic ticket. But this is the guy the Chinese have trotted out to be the "authority". Read on. THERE is an anti-China geo-political agenda behind the hypocritical US-, UK-, EU- and Australian criticisms of China over Tibet. Wait a minute. I remember posting an...

First, there were growing reports of school children being underfed and not getting enough calories, fats and sugars to enable them to grow well and learn, as a result of efforts to feed them ‘healthy’ foods. Now, an investigation of nursery preschools has uncovered tragic findings: nearly all nurseries are feeding toddlers so little fat and calories, and such excessive amounts of 'healthy' fiber, fruits and vegetables, that they are putting the children at risk for stunted growth and nutritional deficiencies. Mistaken beliefs about healthy eating are now endangering our youngest children. A terribly disturbing study was released a few...

NJ has thousands of far more pressing problems,but... a NJ Assemblyman wants to ban the sale of high-caffeine beverages to "underage" consumers. It never stops !!!

My second interview with Gian Turci of FORCES International was posted online today. It focuses on two issues. First, we discuss the increasing worldwide trend of employment discrimination against smokers. Increasingly, companies are implementing policies of refusing to hire smokers (or even to fire existing employees who smoke). We also cover the issue of doctors or hospitals refusing to treat smokers, even when that treatment is medically indicated. Second, we discuss the groupthink mentality in the tobacco control movement and the resulting inability of the movement to tolerate any dissent. I share personal experiences with the suppression of dissenting opinions,...

If I told you how you could save $122,000, would you be interested? Your government-run health care system, under the Medicare program, is willing to spend $126,000 to care for a patient in a nursing home for six weeks while she receives infusion therapy for treatment of bacterial endocarditis. Yet this same government-run health care system will not pay the $4,000 medical bill if this same patient chooses to stay in her home and undergo the same medical procedure at home. That’s right. Medicare will pay $126,000 for her to go into a nursing home for the treatment, but will...

HIMSS Analytics (short for Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society); a “think-tank” for the healthcare management world has just released the 2008 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data. release info. This report examines the security of patient personal identifying information (PII) and protected health information (PHI). In the current data breach crazy world, this is a timely report which tries to get beneath the surface of the needs of health professionals to balance quick access to secure patient health records and the need to protect not only patient privacy but prevent access to information which could lead to identity...

Generation Rescue "In light of the recent Hannah Poling decision, in which the federal court conceded that vaccines could have contributed to her autism, we think the tide is finally turning in the direction of parents like us who have been shouting concerns from our rooftops for years." Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey are actors and parents actively involved in autism-related causes. McCarthy is the author of the book Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism. Go here to read the whole editorialI have to applaud Jenny McCarthy for her tenacity. Her much needed voice has blasted through...

Freepers- My mom fell and broke her arm 3 days ago. She went into surgery but did not do well in post op. She may have suffered from a lack of O2 in the hospital, and they did a CAT scan to see if she has any brain damage. We will not know the results for a few days. She has been suffering from CHF and renal failure as well, and I think she is really taking a turn for the worst. Her name is Lorelei Goering, and she is in ICU at Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, SC....

A group of 20 prominent Hillary Clinton donors sent a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) warning her to retract her comments that superdelegates ought to mirror the voters’ choice in the primaries. The Clinton supporters wrote Pelosi “we don’t want our investment to be undermined by your uncalled for meddling.” The letter went on to point out that Pelosi’s position could be considered risky, reminding her that “a number of others who have undertaken actions that were detrimental to the Clintons have met with unfortunate accidents. By no means are we saying that the Clintons bear...

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 31 (Reuters) - The Brazilian military opened three field hospitals on Monday in Rio de Janeiro to help prevent more deaths from a dengue fever epidemic that has overwhelmed public clinics. The outbreak has killed 54 people since January and infected more than 43,500 in Rio de Janeiro state, according to official figures.

Jenny Hatch: Aunt and Doula to my nephew Jonah a few hours after he was born. I had just given him a massage! This article in the New York Times really dissed the whole idea of hiring a doula, so I thought I would chime in with a Defense of the Doula. QUOTE: "Then “she urged my husband and me to take a shower to ease the pain,” Ms. Myers said. “I told her I didn’t want to, but she was adamant.” Dripping wet, freezing and in bone-shattering pain, Ms. Myers said she seethed in silence. When she ultimately chose...

My mother, Connie Loughman, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in August 2007. As you may know (due to the media attention surrounding Patrick Swayze's diagnosis) Pancreatic Cancer has very high mortality rate since most patients are diagnosed at a late stage of the disease and there are few effective treatments. The courage and tenacity my mom has shown in this battle is more than even an adoring daughter like me could have ever hoped for. She has done all she can to fight this terrible disease but now it's my turn to show that same strength and determination and fight...

Hi everyone. My mother was recently diagnosed with a very rare cancer that affects about 1,000 people a year. It's called pseudomyxoma peritonei. It has been an journey of misdiagnoses, wrong advice,etc. and now after a laparotomy we know what's causing my mother's belly to get so big. I saw my mother about two or three weeks ago and she dropped a lot of weight. I don't mean to depress anyone on this Easter weekend but a lot of folks are going to church and I'd appreciate the prayers.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Nine middle school girls were taken to a hospital Wednesday after taking what is believed to be methadone pills, and a 16-year-old boy was charged with distributing a controlled substance. St. Joseph police Capt. Kevin Castle said the Benton High School student is believed to have given methadone -- a drug commonly used to treat heroin addiction -- to a junior high school girl on a school bus.

A machine that churns out three-dimensional artificial tumours could help improve anti-cancer drug testing, researchers say. The "tumour factory" offers a better alternative to the flat cultured cells currently used to test new anticancer drugs. "Cells grown in a monolayer are very useful in many studies," says Maria Teresa Santini of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome, Italy, who was not involved with the work . "But they cannot represent a three-dimensional tumour."

Woman files lawsuit against AMR because passenger next to her masturbated while she slept A 21-year-old Harris County woman filed a $200,000 lawsuit against American Airlines alleging employees on a flight to Los Angeles from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport failed to protect her while she slept from another passenger who masturbated to her and ejaculated in her hair, according to a lawsuit she filed last week in Tarrant County. The Harris County woman alleges employees knew of the risks associated with failing to “police the passengers to ensure that passengers do not hurt one another,” the suit states. Airline officials did...

Currently, blood bank rules do not allow men who have had anal sex to donate blood because of the danger of transmitting AIDS. Sonoma State University (Calif.) professor Rick Luttmann disagrees, calling the risk of disease transmission “a small price to pay for an egalitarian society.” “A person receiving a blood transfusion from a gay man might get AIDS,” Luttmann admitted. “However, weighed against the certainty of diminished feelings of self-worth in the gay person denied the right to donate his blood, I think it is clear that all right-thinking people would agree that this discrimination is the greater evil.”

From Bearing Drift: Saw this in the Virginian-Pilot’s Beacon this weekend. Planned Parenthood of Southeast Virginia will offer a 10% discount to any current or new client who introduces a friend to Planned Parenthood this month… Never thought I’d see the day when abortions are treated like “double coupon” day at the grocery store.

All these year's Muslim females have faced the problem of finding an appropriate swimwear which adheres to the Koran, which requires a woman to cover everything except her face, hands and feet. The swimwears available in the market were either not targeted for the Muslim women as they led to show of skin or were unpractical for swimming. To aptly describe how uncomfortable the swimwear designed for Muslimahs was I shall quote Aheda Zanetti who wrote to the National Geographic News stating "As an active Muslim girl, I found it difficult to participate in most sports, because of all the...

The one bit of encouraging news for small dairies has been the growing market among health-conscious consumers for unpasteurized milk and dairy products like yogurt, butter and cream... Small dairies have rushed to meet this need via a completely new business model. Instead of selling milk in bulk to processors who offer take-it-or-leave-it prices of $1.50 to $2 a gallon, some small dairies sell directly to consumers at whatever price the market will bear, typically from $5 a gallon to as much as $10 a gallon. At those prices, dairy farmers actually begin thinking in terms of a long-forgotten word:...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=D99NHb6B03s

The "safety" argument can be extended so that pretty much anything is justified. The New York Department of Agriculture and Markets has in the last few weeks helped demonstrate the problem more vividly than any of us ever could imagine, though. While the agency has been preparing its legal arguments over the last few weeks in preparation for trying to throw Barb and Steve Smith into jail for insisting on proper search warrant protection, Ag and Markets has quietly been playing another game with two other New York raw milk farmers, Jerry Snyder and Chuck Phippen—depriving them of their right...

During an interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Democratic presidential frontrunner Senator Barack Obama (Ill) conceded that he, “like most married men in America” is “henpecked.” “Michelle is pretty much the ‘boss,’” Obama admitted. “It’s the normal stuff. You know—limiting what I can watch on TV, making me squat to pee, and, the biggie, forcing me to quit smoking.” “I had been sneaking three cigarettes, four cigarettes a day for a while, and she said if you're going to do this I won’t let you run for president,” Obama said. "And she’d do it, too. I mean, I already had...

As the state of Massachusetts has shown, along with Great Britain and Canada, socialized health care generally runs a higher cost than is initially expected. In order to meet the financial goals, the quality of care offered to the patient is compromised. If either Democrat candidate wins the 2008 election and enacts a universal health care program in America, there is no reason to doubt that we’ll face similar results here. The cost of free health care is expensive not only in monetary terms, but also in the cost of lives.

I was driving to work yesterday morning and Fox News was on the XM. I think “The Cost of Freedom” was on when I heard Ben Stein say that universal health care was a “moral imperative.” At first, I thought he was joking, but then he went off on some class warfare rant about the rich and waiting lists for Bentleys and country clubs. I was stunned.

(This is reported on the Shanghai Daily Web site. The story starts out about some simple food poisoning but if you keep reading the real story will come out. Chinese doctors cheat their patients on a daily basis. They are given low pay and this is how they make money. My wife is always frustrated when I wont let her buy some of the medicine the doctor ask her to buy. I always tell the doctors we will only take western medicine. This make them very very ANGRY because they cant get a kick back from this.) SEVENTY-TWO employees from...

Tobacco Reporter Highlights My New Center for Public Accountability in Tobacco Control Web Site An article in the February issue of Tobacco Reporter highlights my new web site for the Center for Public Accountability in Tobacco Control (access to the article is free, but you must register first). The article, entitled "New Center Promotes Integrity in Tobacco Control," states: "Professor Michael Siegel of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department at the Boston University School of Public Health has established an organization to ensure the ethical and honest practice of tobacco control by anti-smoking organizations in the United States. The Center...

Wait till the liberals jump on the latest worldwide crisis de-jure requiring government intervention  You thought the whole man-made global warming thing was bad, wait till you see what these socialist do-gooders have in mind for curtailing your freedom when it comes to the pressing issue of…worldwide obesity. They’ve even managed to come up with a new “enemy” who will soon be standing side-by-side with “Big Oil”, “Big Pharma”, “Big Tobacco”, every major corporation, Halliburton and the like in the Hall of Shame. Just listen to this garbage. The chairman of the International Obesity Taskforce wants world leaders to agree a...

What is the cost of human life in just trying to get into the country? Coming to America illegally is a dangerous and deadly way to immigrate. It often results in a hundreds of deaths each year. It is a number that doesn’t have to even exist.

Just when liberals thought it was safe to start identifying themselves as such, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder. "Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave." While political activists on the...

We all know that many smokers are aware of health risks that come along with smoking cigarettes. We also know that that some of them are seeking support and help for their habit. I don’t want you to understand me as some kind of a guru who is making smart statements on how to quit smoking cold turkey in 15 hours for free. No no. My idea for smoking cigarettes is very similar to yours. You see, I’m aware that smoking is a nice hobby, in fact it’s irreplaceable, it can be your best friend, so why quit smoking anyway?...

New York state continues to tighten the screws on Barb and Steve Smith, the operators of Meadowsweet Dairy in Lodi. Over what? Over their decision to establish a herd share organized as a limited liability company, and make raw milk dairy products available exclusively to the LLC’s 120-plus shareholders. The immediate issue concerns a search warrant issued to the NY Department of Agriculture and Markets in December...Now Ag and Markets has returned to the state judge who issued the warrant, and obtained a “show cause” order as to why the Smiths shouldn’t be held in contempt of court...

I read something recently that compared him to Jesus. You see, like Jesus, Barack Obama wants to feed the starving masses and heal the sick. Unfortunately for Obama, he doesn’t have the ability to magically turn a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish into enough food to feed a crowd. It takes more than charisma to feed and heal people these days.

Through the business of each and every day, it seems to be hard to find time to pray. This beautiful inspirational soft sounding hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, will inspire you in it’s 3 minutes and 58 seconds to pray without distractions. May you find this song a true blessing! Revski