Free Republic

Guest Commentary I have often wondered, how do people like Barack Hussein Obama end their speeches with, "God Bless America" and still have a straight face. Here's a man, Obama, who believes that women should have the right to kill their unborn and partially-born children and, in Obama's case, he even wants children to be killed after they have been born by denying them treatment if they survive an abortion. And then he has the nerve to even mention God and ask God to bless America, no less. A country, because of people like Obama, who want God's innocent children...

The nation's best insurance program will receive a lot of publicity this weekend. Jerry Lewis will conduct the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon this weekend. The Jerry Lewis Labor Day telethon has been a tradition since the first Labor Day telethon in New York City in 1966. Lewis and former comedy partner Dean Martin had previously conducted a telethon in New York City in 1955, but it wasn't on Labor Day. Jerry Lewis and all the other performers donate their services and receive no payment. Most people don't think of MDA as being an insurance program because it doesn't charge...

A Rise in Poverty by: Irene Warren, August 29, 2008 The number of American families living in poverty in the United States “increased 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007,” according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. And, in terms of those who lacked healthcare coverage, the report showed an increase in the number of people who were without healthcare coverage in 2007. Data collected, using the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) Survey, in 2008 showed that “the nation’s official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent,” as the U.S....

Universal Malpractice by: Lance Nation, August 28, 2008 Although Americas are hearing political elites promising to end their health care woes with universal coverage, the government that would hand out this treatment does not have a stellar record of delivering the services it already offers. In the U.S. Index of Health Ownership, John R. Graham argues that “Between 1996-97 and 2004-05, the number of physicians receiving no Medicaid revenue increased by 13 percent.” By the government refusing to pay the average fee set by most physicians, only a select few will actually see a Medicaid recipient. If these fees were...

Denial Healthy? Not Necessarily by: Bethany Stotts, August 28, 2008 Five academics have challenged the conventional wisdom that silence in the face of emotional trauma is an unhealthy reaction. “Contrary to common assumption, this study demonstrates that individuals who choose not to express their thoughts and feelings in the immediate aftermath of collective trauma are capable of coping successfully and in fact are more likely to do so than individuals who do express,” write five professors who hail from the University of California at Irvine, the University of Buffalo, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Their research tracked...

The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union (EU) has called for new regulations that would equalize the legal status of married heterosexual couples with that of same-sex couples. It also recommends "promoting the visibility of homosexuality and other gender identities and criminalizing homophobia.” “Prejudicial attitudes are stifling the gay lifestyle,” according to the authors of the 165 page FRA report. “Therefore, we recommend a two-pronged approach.” The first “prong” is labeled the “carrot.” Under its provisions, funds will be advanced to entities promoting homosexuality. “It is especially important that children’s literature be rewritten to help establish the point...

Speaker Pelosi is deep in it now. I am still looking for a link, but Amy reports that Brendan Daly, Nancy Pelosi’s spokesman issued a statement about her remarks on Meet The Press: “The Speaker is the mother of five children and seven grandchildren and fully appreciates the sanctity of family. She was raised in a devout Catholic family who often disagreed with her pro-choice views. “After she was elected to Congress, and the choice issue became more public as she would have to vote on it, she studied the matter more closely. Her views on when life begins were...

Rendell: 'Bad Person' Wouldn't Support Universal Health Care Pennsylvania governor says Clinton's fight for 'universal care' in line with Obama By Paul Detrick Business & Media Institute 8/25/2008 5:43:43 PM An opponent of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s health care proposal is a “bad person” in Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s book, even if that opponent is Sen. Hillary Clinton. “Hillary has fought for universal health-care for all her life. The McCain plan is respectfully a joke. Sen. Obama has a real good plan to bring health care to every American,” Rendell told CBS “The Early Show” co-host Harry Smith...

I have a litmus test for them: If they, not a doctor, can stick the scissors in and squish them around until the child stops moving, then they can be pro-abortion at any stage. If they, not a doctor, can pull the limp, lifeless body out of the birth canal and toss it in the garbage, then they can be pro-abortion at any stage. No more pushing the filthy work off on an anonymous medical provider—let any woman who wants to abort her own child at a point in the pregnancy when it would be viable first perform such an...

Double chin chiminy chin chin charoo. Pennsylvania Governess Edwina Rendell has been selected to address the members of the Democratic Convention on Tuesday night, according to press officials. Nanny Rendell, as she likes to be called, is expected to talk about how deep state intrusion has helped growth in her home state of Pennsylvania--and by Pennsylvania, she means Philadelphia and, to a lesser degree, Pittsburgh. Nanny has been instrumental in helping the state lean toward a more centralized, bureaucratic healthcare system, while disregarding other options, like improving a system of free health clinics. "As I like to say a teaspoon...

Barack Obama has a plan for fixing the American health care system. Posted on his website, he has laid his plan out for everyone to review. Only, he has left out a few details. Obama starts by naming three distinct issues with American health care. First, there are a lot of people who are without insurance. According to Obama’s website, there are “47 million Americans” without insurance, including about 9 million children. But there are a few details he forgot to mention. Out of that 47 million people, about 10 million of them are not Americans. According to page 29...

After declaring that resolving the issue of abortion “is above my pay grade,” presidential contender Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) elaborated on the nuances of the topic. “Should a moment of incautious sexual indulgence be penalized by a life sentence of responsibility for the welfare of an unwanted child?” Obama asked. “I think this is too harsh a punishment, especially when we have the medical means to rectify the situation.” “There are also contractual considerations we ought not to ignore,” he continued. “A woman who goes in for an abortion has been promised that her pregnancy will be terminated. Just because...

t is estimated that two out of three men and one out of five women suffer from hair loss. It can be very depressing and most affected individuals try to cover up their balding spots with wigs and other camouflage attempts. Some use growth stimulators and hormone inhibitors. Some are satisfied with these treatments, but a lot more aren’t. Many find that wigs and hairpieces don’t look genuine and take too much time to maintain. Growth Stimulators and Hormone inhibitors on the other hand may be effective, but they need to be taken or used daily. That can take a...

A nurse working at a suburban Chicago hospital observed a late-term abortion being performed. The procedure was to induce delivery. The assumption was, given the development of the fetus, the delivery would result in a "still born" child/fetus. The fetus was a little more developed than assumed and the child/fetus was not still born; it was alive. It tried to breathe. It struggled and writhed. It was placed in a utility closet and allowed to die. The nurse, went to the hospital administration. The administration refused to do anything about the practice. (Between 10% - 15% of late-term abortions of...

Senator Barak Obama Has a Right Head Tilt Watching the Saddleback Church Forum with Pastor Rick Warren interviewing Senator Barak Obama on Saturday August 16, I was struck by the marked and obvious tilting of the Senator’s head Forum. The tilt is to the right side. This phenomenon has not been widely written about from a medical perspective. A head tilt can be a sign that a patient has double vision also known as diplopia. Diplopia can be benign if it is caused by a congenital (from birth) eye muscle weakness or it can be associated with autoimmune medical disorders...

Editor's Note: Bill Beckman, Executive Director, Illinois Right to Life Committee, updates RFFM.org's readers regarding the issue of living wills. During the last week, RFFM.org posted a series on end of life issues which were first seen on RFFM.org in 2006. Beckman's latest column is an insightful look into the confusing and sometimes deadly result of signing a living will. While the Terri Schiavo case was in the news back in 2004, another Florida case got much less publicity. Hanford Pinette had signed both a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care that designated his wife...

OVERVIEW Like many others, I believed pro-life issues only concerned the saving of the innocent unborn from abortion. However, my naiveté regarding the sanctity of life topic was clearly evident after I learned about what is taking place in our country involving the care of those approaching life's end. Now, when I talk about life's end, I'm including the terminally ill, elderly, infirm and those whose circumstances have led them to face death from afar or while approaching the threshold of death's door. I learned of a series of articles written and edited by Bill Beckman, Executive Director, Illinois Right...

Editor's Note: This is the sixth in a series of columns first posted on the Illinois Right to Life Committee's (IRLC) website [http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/] written by Bill Beckman, IRLC's executive director. The column discusses hospice care. Beckman relates nightmarish, firsthand recollections regarding patients and their hospice providers. This series warns readers about end of life issues and the need to monitor the care given to loved ones. The IRLC director also describes what readers can do to protect themselves from the looming culture of death which permeates the thinking of many medical facilities in our nation. Hospice has developed a good...

Editor's Note: This is the fifth in a series of columns first posted on the Illinois Right to Life Committee's (IRLC) website written by Bill Beckman, IRLC's executive director. The column discusses hospice care and gives individuals and families the tools they need to choose a good hospice care provider. This series warns readers about end of life issues and the need to monitor the care given to loved ones. The IRLC director also describes what readers can do to protect themselves from the looming culture of death which permeates the thinking of many medical facilities and health care providers...

When I saw this headline, I wondered what it could possibly mean: "Drugs like LSD and Ecstasy 'could help terminally ill'." Turns out (drat!) that it doesn't mean that those hits of acid you may have swallowed when you were young and irresponsible will help you live longer. The first clinical trial involving LSD since the 1970s began in Switzerland in June with the aim of using "psychedelic psychotherapy" to help terminally ill patients come to terms with imminent death to improve the quality of their remaining life. Eight subjects will receive 200 micrograms of LSD - enough to induce...

POLITICAL COMMENTATORS ANONYMOUSCASTING OFF THE OBSESSION by John W. Cassell Do you find yourself boiling inside when you see a so-called “news program”? or when you listen to the endless collection of parasitic “talking heads” on the more in-depth media atrocities on current events?Do you often feel that only you and maybe one or two others are aware that the two candidates running for president are stone idiots?  That this farce we will be enduring through January of next year is but a shabby remake…a very shabby remake… of THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES…..but that everyone else [almost] sees the capability, wisdom...

David Freddoso, Bane of the Obama left for daring to dirty the Obamessiah's brilliant white robes, has written an excellent article about Obama's support for infanticide. He begins by describing a nurse's eye-witness account of cradling a four month old baby boy, victim of a botched abortion, and watching him die because Illinois law and hospital staff permitted it. I think abortion is abhorrent, and words can't do justice to the evil of the Illinois infanticide law. But other things in the article caught my eye as well: The hospital where the botched abortion turned into a baby killing is...

University of Reading scientists have developed a robot controlled by a biological brain formed from cultured neurons. And this is a world's premiere. Other research teams have tried to control robots with 'brains,' but there was always a computer in the loop. This new project is the first one to examine 'how memories manifest themselves in the brain, and how a brain stores specific pieces of data.' As life expectancy is increasing in most countries, this new research could provide insights into how the brain works and help aging people. In fact, the main goal of this project is to...

Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of columns first posted on the Illinois Right to Life Committee's (IRLC) website [http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/] written by Bill Beckman, IRLC's executive director. The column discusses research on "brain dead" and "almost dead" patients. This series warns readers about end of life issues and the need to monitor the care given to loved ones. The IRLC director also describes what readers can do to protect themselves from the looming culture of death which permeates the thinking of many medical facilities in our nation. The following was written by Bill Beckman Life is precious,...

Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of seven columns first posted on the Illinois Right to Life Committee's (IRLC) website [http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/] written by Bill Beckman, IRLC's executive director. The column discusses "futile care," a method of medical evaluation whereby a physician makes the decision on whether a patient is "worthy" of life-saving treatment. This column warns readers of the need to monitor the care given to loved ones. Beckman tells a heart-breaking, but true story which, for a time, ended happily, but could have concluded in disaster with the induced premature death of Andrea Clark. The IRLC...

Sanders Turns Blind Eye To Victims, Sponsors Deadly MOTHERS ActGo Here to read the PDF version of this article.

Precautions and Alternatives From the Editor: This is the second in a series of columns first posted on the Illinois Right to Life Committee's (IRLC) website [http://www.illinoisrighttolife.org/] written by Bill Beckman, IRLC's executive director. The RFFM.org re-posting of the column discusses how living wills can cancel out the wishes of patients and loved ones regarding end of life issues. Also, readers can learn how to seek out alternatives to living wills and find ways to ensure their end of life issues are respected and adhered to. Included are examples of how living wills have been used to disregard patients rights....

Through the next seven days, RFFM.org will publish a series of columns which first appeared on the Illinois Right to Life Committee's web site. The articles, edited and written by IRLC's executive director Bill Beckman, will address issues which include the dangers associated with living wills, hospice care and issues dealing with patient's rights. This highly important series will provide readers with information a family must have, in order to make educated decisions regarding the medical care of their loved ones. It is a must read. For more information on alternatives to living wills and other life-affirming issues, go to...

Patch Rendell visits the state's latest health care initiative. Pennsylvania criminals get great health care, now Gov. Edward (Patch) Rendell is creating a plan to grant the state's low-income workers access to premium health care by participating in the penal system. Rendell said that the state allowed a child rapist to get a million-dollar heart bypass surgery. The Crime for Coverage will provide similar quality health care for workers who show the initiative to plan and execute crimes. "Now, we're not saying you have to be a rapist, or a murderer, although these crimes do provide long-term coverage," Rendell said....

I think the stories of patients being refused life-extending chemotherapy by Oregon's Medicaid--but offered assisted suicide instead--will materially impact the I-1000 legalization effort in Washington. First, this kind of heartlessness was predicted by opponents. Second, the old myth that Oregon has operated without abuses is now shattered. Third, unlike other Oregon abuses, the MSM is actually reporting the story--like an extended report on ABC News. From the story:The health plan takes "no position" on the physician-assisted suicide law, according to spokesman Jim Sellers. The terminally ill who qualify can receive pain medication, comfort and hospice care, "no matter what...

Yeah but the guy probably did a job no American would do. So sit down and stop your xenophobic, racist, hate-filled sputtering. It's a frickin' melting pot and sometimes you get a piece of gristle in your stew. Think that's bad? This hospital administrator in Florida was just getting warmed up.

Freudian Falloff by: Bethany Stotts, August 07, 2008 Are Freudian analyses of the human mind becoming a thing of the past? A new study released this month finds that psychiatric practices are increasingly opting for medical therapies over the traditional “couch talks” that once symbolized this mental health profession. Those consumers continuing to seek counseling are increasingly moving away from the psychiatry for counseling, preferring more non-medical approaches—partially because “managed care” such as HMO’s reimburse psychiatrists more for a 15 minute prescription session than for 45 minutes of psychotherapy. Two researchers from Columbia University and Beth Israel Medical Center found...

Idiocy - Alive and Well in Los Angeles Posted by WhiteCoat on August 4, 2008 As reported in the Wall Street Journal (with a hat tip to Kevin, MD), Los Angeles has created a city ordinance making it a crime to transport a patient anywhere other than that patient’s residence without the patient’s written consent.The intent of the ordinance is noble - to prevent hospitals from discharging homeless patients and then dumping them in the gutter with nothing but a gown and a hearty handshake.The problem is that keeping patients in the hospital - even if there is nothing wrong with...

Apparently, some people got all exercised over my articles on "Homosexuality in America," especially by my referencing Dr. Paul Cameron who gays seem to believe is the Devil Incarnate. I hereby post their comments, with my rejoinders, [in brackets] I also took the opportunity to contact Dr. Cameron. His response can be seen on my website, http://genelalor.com/ Freeper mommy. said, in August 3rd, 2008 at 8:19 pm Wow, what good references you have! [SARCASM?] ........................................................ Zoe Brain said, in August 4th, 2008 at 2:26 am The source for the Family Research Council’s pamphlet is Dr Paul Cameron. He either resigned...

San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom (D), announced a plan to inspect city residents’ garbage. Reportedly, he was inspired, in part, by a study that appeared in the weekly journal Obesity. “Projections show that by the year 2030, every American will be overweight,” Newsome explained. “We’ve got to do something. Since the City has custody of the people’s garbage, I thought, why not use this power for good?” “You know, we can learn a lot from people’s garbage,” Newsome went on. “What they’re eating, reading, wearing—all can be deduced from what people throw away.” Newsome downplayed contentions that this would be...

Wellthy & Wise by: Emily Miller, August 04, 2008 Education and health: two seemingly separate domains, but according Robert Kaestner, professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the two are closely intertwined. Education is a “powerful” determinant of health, the professor decrees, making good education policy good health policy. According to Kaestner’s longitudinal study, education is a greater “predictor” of health and health behaviors than income level. He found that individuals who graduated high school raised their physical health by ¼th of the standard deviation and decreased the probability of poor health by thirty-five percent, while those who earned...

The House of Representatives recently passed a bill to triple the money we give to foreign countries in their fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. That legislation calls for a total of $48 billion dollars over a five-year period. The Senate is expected to pass the bill, and the president has said he will sign it. After all, he broached the idea during his 2003 State of the Union speech when it came to increased funding in the fight against AIDS. Rep. Ileana Rose-Lehtinen, R-FL, said that the giveaway program has enhanced the U.S. image abroad. Enhanced our image abroad?...

Moving Americans Toward Better Health Habits by: Audra Taylor, July 30, 2008 The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) hosted “Beyond More Health Insurance Coverage, toward Better Health Outcomes” last Wednesday to discuss health-related issues ranging from health education to disease treatment and prevention. Panelist Michael McGinnis of the Institute of Medicine discussed the option of utilizing prevention strategies to improve health and save lives. McGinnis addressed many of the leading killers of Americans including heart disease and tobacco addiction. “Diet and physical inactivity” lead to the deaths of 350,000 people per year, according to his presentation. Another speaker addressed the importance...

Olympic Inhumanity by: Melinda Zosh, July 30, 2008 There’s only one difference between the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Nazis ripped organs out of live victims after the Olympics. But the Chinese have been harvesting organs from live victims for seven years prior to the Olympics, according to native German Torsten Trey, M.D. “Aribert Heim, also called ‘Dr. Death’ killed [his victims] by injecting gasoline or poison in their hearts; he removed organs from victims without anesthetics; after administering lethal injections, he timed death with a stopwatch,” said Dr. Trey. Trey, spokesperson for Doctors Against Forced Organ...

Long-Term Letdown by: Emily Miller, July 29, 2008 Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jim McCrery (R-Lou.) met earlier this month to advocate reforming long-term healthcare, an aspect of the healthcare debate both congressmen worry is being overlooked this campaign season. “This program is about making sure that long-term care is not the after-thought, not the forgotten step-child in the debate,” said Sen. Wyden at the Brookings Institution event. Both Congressmen expressed concern about the shortage of primary caregivers in the workplace, a problem likely to worsen over the next decade, according to former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.). Kerrey, speaking...

You might laugh at me but I do not want my insurance companies to become suspicious of me. My son is currently not enrolled in school, will be 18 in a few months, and is working full time. How have you dealt with the auto insurance issue when they turn 18 and are no longer a student? And also if they move out and do not have access to your auto 24/7? Do you remove them from the policy? What about medical insurance? If they are no longer a student, is this grounds for removal on a medical policy? I...

Medical Logical That Cannot Be Denied by Donna Garner WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT, SOME OF THE INFORMATION BELOW MAY BE CONSIDERED NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN Editor's Note: If there were not enough reasons homosexuals should not be allowed to openly serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, the following column by Donna Garner will provide more food for thought. Garner, an activist and researcher, accumulated reams of information regarding the added risk homosexuality presents to those who practice this behavior. Do Ask, Do Tell / U.S. Military points to the fact these medical issues would be a factor which would play a...

Marriage and Domestic Violence by: Audra Taylor, July 28, 2008 The National Healthy Marriage Resource Center and the Center on Children and Families gathered last Friday, July 18, to hold a discussion addressing how domestic violence and marriage programs are working together in a common direction and toward common goals. The audience was also given the opportunity to view a segment from Something My Father Would Do, a documentary of interviews with men who experienced and witnessed abusive behavior from their fathers during childhood. Juan Carlos Areán, a Senior Program director for children’s programs at the Family Violence Prevention Fund,...

One of the favorite targets of conservative pundits (and rightly so) is the liberal tendency to extremes. Oftentimes, a liberal will see a societal problem, and pronounce :”This needs government!” Quite often the liberal will see a real problem, too, but will either end up creating a massive, wasteful bureaucracy (say, Medicare or Social Security), or else use the problem as a excuse for a vastly disproportionate growth in governmental power (say, the IRS). As H. L. Mencken once wrote, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”...

HOMOSEXUALITY IN AMERICAPublished in July 28th, 2008 | EditPosted by Berlet98 in AMERICAN CULTURE TODAY, OUR WORLDFree speech and the protections of the First Amendment be damned, there are certain topics in today’s America which must be broached gingerly, if at all. One of them is the topic of homosexuality Of course, infringements on constitutional rights can only be perpetrated by government but inhibiting free speech is rapidly becoming a trend in many areas of society, such as the mass media and even in public conversation. Thus the famous references to gays in Seinfeld, all of which were immediately followed...

Guest Commentary by Dr. Frank Joseph In listening to Obama's speech in Berlin which the MSM (mainstream media) called great, the following sentence by Obama caught my attention: "Look at Berlin where the bullet holes in the buildings and the somber stones and pillars near the Brandenburg Gate insist that we never forget our common humanity." "Our common humanity?" This is what Obama considers being humane: An entire baby is delivered except for the head, which they make sure stays in the birth canal (otherwise it would be murder), then the back of the baby's head is stabbed with scissors,...

Aid to Pakistan Evaporates by: Audra Taylor, July 25, 2008 Much of the financial assistance donated by other countries toward the betterment of Pakistan’s health and population sectors is not being utilized efficiently, according to Dr. Samia Altaf, who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Islamabad. Despite the $58 billion in assistance Pakistan has received from 1950-1999, Pakistan has little to show for it, said Altaf, the author of Aid Without Development: A Tale of International Consultants, Aid and Development. At the Woodrow Wilson Center, where Altaf is now a scholar, Altaf described her perspective on...

Oh yes .. this is going to be so wonderful. What a thrill. But ... the people demand that the government take care of them, and the politicians are only thrilled to respond if it means they can keep their precious positions of power. Three stores came our way in just the last two days. The first was of a woman in Britain who was diagnosed with a small melanoma – skin cancer. Just a small spot. Problem was, it took her a few months to see a specialist to get it removed. By then it had spread and now...

A number of polls in diverse locations indicate that mental illness may be far more pervasive than most experts have thought. A poll conducted by Time magazine and the Rockefeller Foundation claims to have found that 88 percent of people support bigger government. “People are scared,” said Time magazine Managing Editor Richard Stengel. “Personal responsibility is too big of a burden for the average guy. He needs the comfort of a ‘big brother’ who’ll be there to tuck him in at night, so to speak.” “It’s the government’s job to take care of the people,” declared poll respondent, Melissa Pewler....

After hearing about dental work containing lead, because it's made in China, I called my dentist to see if the crown material (porcelon-based) is made in China. He didn't know, but gave me the name of the company, "Cerec." I e-mailed the company, and am awaiting an answer.