Free Republic

With Wisconsin having some of the heaviest residents in the country, Gov. Jim Doyle challenged the state today to get in shape with a six-week fitness program. "I want Wisconsin to lead the nation in the number of people taking the Governor's Challenge and leading more active, healthier lifestyles," Doyle said in a statement this morning. "This challenge is focused on motivating people of all ages and abilities to find activities they love, and get moving. Physical activity is extremely important for improving the health of our nation, decreasing obesity rates and reducing the risk of many serious diseases." According...

BAGHDAD — When Army Maj. Anne Burnley was told she only had 90 days to make a difference in Iraq, she knew she had to come up with something fast. “When I arrived here, I was told (by my commander) to be bold, find a project that was close to my heart and run with it,” Burnley said. The preventive medicine officer deployed to Baghdad in May to support the 358th Civil Affairs Brigade as an individual augmentee. She wanted to begin a medical project that was sustainable and could be done in a short amount of time. After conducting...

We do not have a health care crisis in this country - we have a health crisis with a health care system incapable of dealing with it. Consider the fact that 75% of the $2 trillion we spend on health care goes toward treating the symptoms of chronic disease, and not toward preventing disease in the first place. Imagine if we were to reverse that model by focusing on prevention, wellness, and early testing, all of which are undervalued and poorly supported today. We would save countless lives, pain and suffering by the victims of chronic conditions, and billions of...

As you may recall, in my last vanity, ”Confessions of a Crunchy Con, or, You Can't Judge a Conservative by his Birkenstocks”, I discussed how I became a “crunchy con”—someone who endorses certain cultural and lifestyle values which have traditionally been associated with the left. In this piece, I follow up with some thoughts about health and lifestyle issues, with application to American society at large. Taking fish oil supplements, despite my misgivings, and finding how successful it was at rejuvenating me, was a real eye-opener. In fact, it got me thinking not just of my own health, but the...

If I recall correctly, the term “crunchy con” does not refer to someone who has stolen a box of Captain Crunch. It refers to the term “crunchy conservative” and was popularized (if not invented) by Rod Dreher of National Review. For a sample discussion, check out this link. Yes, I know what you’re thinking—“First William F. Buckley comes out for legalization of drugs, and now supposed conservatives are talking of Birkenstocks! Fifth Columnists, all of them!” I wouldn’t blame you for thinking like that. I used to think that way myself. But that was before I joined the ranks of...

What has $4.5 billion and provides millions of dollars per year to the left in California and won’t stop until California has universal, government-run, and fully unionized healthcare? The answer, three foundations created by Blue Cross’ conversion from non-profit to for-profit status from the late-80s to the mid-90s: The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation and the California HealthCare Foundation. These three entities, hijacked by the liberal activists on their boards, fund political activity, liberal consumer rights groups such as the Consumers Union (the publisher of Consumer Reports), and the ACLU, the CTA teachers union, Planned Parenthood, the National Center...

ARLINGTON, VA – Bush-Cheney ’04 Campaign Chairman Gov. Marc Racicot today issued the following statement: “Governor Shaheen’s flailing attacks in New Mexico are part of the Kerry campaign’s desperate effort to regain control in a state where one-fourth of Democrats now support the President’s positive agenda for a safer world and more hopeful America. Shaheen knows that Kerry’s out of the mainstream policies ignore the priorities of New Mexico voters – she even agreed with the President's thoughtful stand against the Clinton Roadless Rule and opposed Kerry’s extreme environmentalist position. “The Kerry campaign’s effort to talk down New Mexico’s growing...

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Kenny Hulshof today issued the following statement: “John Kerry is trying to mislead Missouri voters with his attacks on health care costs even though he voted five times for higher Medicare premiums. Kerry opposed the President’s Medicare bill guaranteeing affordable prescription drugs, calling it a ‘phony’ bill. He even called the passage of separate legislation requiring Medicare premium increases a ‘day of vindication.’ The true day of vindication for Missouri doctors and patients will come when Kerry and his Democratic colleagues stop opposing the President’s reforms to curb the medical liability lawsuits that are costing...

When Bill Clinton suggested that John Kerry talk more about domestic issues in order to boost his sagging presidential campaign, the creation of a new federal Department of Wellness was probably not what the former president had in mind. But that's what Mr. Kerry advocated Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C. MSNBC quoted him as stating that, in an effort to reduce the cost of health-care coverage, "I intend to have not just a Department of Health and Human Services, but a Department of Wellness." In truth, it's probably just a matter of time before the level of ridicule rises to a...

"Department of Wellness"! Spirit-crushing foolishness from my candidate, John Kerry. The nation is trying to figure out how to fight global terrorism and he's talking about having "not just a Department of Health and Human Services, but a Department of Wellness." How about a Department of F***ing Perspective? If Bush is smart he'll be ridiculing Kerry about this for the rest of the month. ...Thanks, Iowa! P.S.: Was this harmless "Kerrymeandering" or the more ominous "Kerrypandering"?

The Advocate is a national gay and lesbian magazine. Here's what Barbra had to say in their August 17, 1999 issue: "The Reagan years legitimized bigotry. AIDS, which even then affected as many if not more heterosexuals than homosexuals throughout the world, was dismissed as a gay disease with an official homophobic wink, implying that those deaths did not matter because of who was involved.... We are filled with the hope that someday, some way, we will see an end to this human tragedy, but the battle is far from won, and there is a long road still ahead."

"I once had a bird, her name was Enza!" "I opened the window, and in flew Enza!" Most nursery rhymes may say little to us about history and present dangers. But this one, dating back to the horrific flu pandemic of 1918-1919, reminds us that influenza is highly infectious and can fly across the country with the speed of a bird. It's a reminder to get vaccinated against a preventable disease that reaps over 35,000 American lives a year.