Not for nothing, but North Carolina has the nation's second-highest hunger rate for children under 5 years old, second only to Louisiana (which is still suffering the after-effects of Katrina). More than 422,000 children in North Carolina are "food insecure" – , i.e., unable to consistently access adequate amounts of nutritious food that is necessary for a healthy life. That amounts one-in-four … Read More
Socialized Math
Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) on socialized medicine: Well, if you go to the socialized medicine countries, you find about 20 percent worse results. You get it? One in five people have to die because they went to socialized medicine! Now, I’ve got three daughters and a wife. I would hate to think that, among five women, one of them is … Read More
What Digby Said: GOP Health Care Talking Points
Digby takes on the Republican talking points on health care and nails it: Just in case you are like me and would like to be able to hit the mute button whenever a Republican is on TV talking about health care, the Huffington Post has conveniently provided the official Republican talking points: In regard to specific talking points, the RNC … Read More
Getting My Arms Around Health Care Reform
I don't blog about this very much, because I don't understand it very well. I know there are several bills and versions out there; I just don't know what they do or how they differ. I know there's such a thing as a "single payer system" which is essentially "socialized health care". In essence, it's a single universal health care … Read More
Graphing Youth Sex Habits
I pulled some interesting charts from the today-released CDC report on STDs among youth. Apparently, there was an increase in teen pregnancies and youth STDs during the Bush years. Here are the charts: TABLE 22. (Continued) Estimated number of cases and cumulative rates* of persons aged 10–24 years living with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, by age group and area of … Read More
I Prefer Maple Syrup, Thank You
From Thisiswhyyourefat.com, a pancake fiasco: Layers from bottom to top: pancake; cookie dough; pancake; peanut butter and jelly; pancake; chocolate and bananas; pancake; caramel, oreo, marshmallow, sprinkles, M&M’s; pancake; caramel buttercream frosting granished with Trix cereal. Sacrilege.
“I Can’t Get That E-Coli Virus Offa My Mind”
That title is an inside joke that only a handful of people will get. It's from a play I'm in which opens tonight (see right column). One of our castmates was unable to make final dress rehearsal last night — tremendous stomach problems, apparently. So you know where my mind went when I read this: Nestle recalls cookie dough products for … Read More
Not Fearing The Reaper
Seeing as how the swine flu is no more deadly than the regular strains of flu that pass through every year, nor any more contageous, I'm officially calling this pandemic alert "overhyped" and removing info from the sidebar. (On the other hand, we've got tornado warnings here….)
Great Moments In Punditry: Swine Flu Edition
Pat Buchanan: Because of the peril of swine flu, Joe Biden said yesterday, he would urge his family to stay out of "confined places" like airplanes and subways here in the United States. Yet, the Obama administration will not consider closing the United States to airplanes and buses coming in from the epicenter of the epidemic, Mexico City. Does this … Read More
Bachmania!
Time to spread a little lovin' once again to "America's Worst Legislator"TM, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN). First of all, she weighs in with her thoughts about the swine flu pandemic alert: "I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter," said Bachmann. "And I'm not … Read More
Swine Flu — How Bad Is It?
Not bad, but not good. The World Health Organization raised it to a Phase 4. The U.S. stll has it at Stage 0, but expect that to go up tomorrow. P.S. Yes, I know I'm blogging about this a lot. I don't think we're at death's door, or the fall of civilization is imminent. I just like the subject matter … Read More
It’s Heeeeere…..(Maybe)
NC isolates patients who may have swine flu The Associated PressRALEIGH, N.C. There are a handful of suspected swine flu cases in North Carolina, and investigators were gathering specimens in Raleigh to determine whether the outbreak had spread to the South, state health officials said Monday. Dr. Jeffrey Engel, the state health director, said officials are involuntarily isolating patients who … Read More
Swine Flu Outbreak
Reminds me of this… my favorite opening title sequence evah:
An Open Letter To Rep. Susan Collins (R-Me)
Dear Rep. Collins: Your website boasts that you led the fight to cut "$780 million" for pandemic-flu preparedness from Obama's stimulus package. It kind of makes you look like a jerk now. You're probably still wondering what pandemic-flu preparedness has to do with an economic recovery stimulus bill. Sadly, I think you're about to find out. But it was explained to … Read More