Aliens and Universal Health Care

I sat down last night to watch the pilot for the remake of the 80's sci-fi show "V". I remember watching it as a middle-school and early high-school kid, so I was curious to see what they could do with modern effects and (hopefully) better writing.

But it wasn't the aliens and special effects (of which there were few) that immediately struck me as I was watching. It was the political allegory. A charming race of aliens appear suddenly and usher in a new era on Earth. They are good looking, eloquent in staged speeches, don't take unvetted questions, and use phrases like "hope" and "change". We know nothing about them, yet most of the country is taken in by the rhetoric.

Sound familiar?

Heck, at one point, during a staged interview, the aliens even offer to provide "universal health care". And yes, they used that exact phrase.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up and saw THIS ARTICLE linked from Instapundit. It seems I wasn't the only one to find the parallelism more than a bit creepy. Of course, it's likely all just something of a coincidence. The show was probably written, produced, and scheduled for airing before the current White House was in place. Or maybe the script was reworked a bit. Maybe.

IRS Received $303 Billion Interest-Free Loan

The IRS just released numbers regarding 2008 taxes.  The numbers reveal that it issued 110 million refunds for a total of $303 billion. That’s not a typo - $303 billion! It has always baffled me how the government gets away with this.  In essence, they had a $303 billion interest-free loan from all of us.

2009 FILING SEASON STATISTICS
Cumulative through the weeks ending 10/17/08 and 10/16/09
Individual Income Tax Returns	2008		2009
Total Receipts	153,650,000		141,376,000
Total Processed	152,759,000		140,718,000
E-filing Receipts:
TOTAL	89,853,000		94,980,000
Tax Professionals	62,932,000		62,786,000
Self-prepared	26,921,000		32,193,000
Web Usage:
Visits to IRS.gov	323,463,010		266,631,821
Total Refunds:
Number	106,200,000		110,071,000
Amount	$251.827	Billion	$303.069	Billion
Average refund	$2,371		$2,753
Direct Deposit Refunds:
Number	66,240,000		72,717,000
Amount	$179.708	Billion	$217.915	Billion
Average refund	$2,713		$2,997

Hitler Defends Pete Carroll

This is the funniest parody of the classic Hitler meltdown scene.

"This is nothing. You should have seen him during the Freedom Bowl back in '92" haha. Yeah Adolph... I was there for that. It was almost as bad a spending a weekend in the Dachau concentration camp. Almost.


I haven't laughed this hard after a loss in years.

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

THIS is a great article that deals with one of the biggest myths regarding exercise. There are lots of reasons to stay active - weight loss is not one of them.

Study: Abstinence-Only Lunch Programs Ineffective At Combating Teen Obesity

This tongue-in-cheek "Onion" article ironically is more accurate (and less harmful) than a lot of the vitriol the media releases. A few excerpts:

"You can't just tell kids not to eat....As children grow and their bodies begin to develop, they're going to have certain metabolic urges that are impossible to suppress."

"Some as old as 17 still believed they could catch high blood pressure from their very first Snickers bar."

"Although these students were repeatedly warned about the evils of eating and made to take fasting pledges, the abstinence-only program did little to curb their overall appetite for food."

The article touches on some of my core beliefs, which happen to be shared by researchers and clinicians in the eating disorders and obesity fields:

1) Restrictive diets and diets that eliminate foods don't work. Period. End of story.

2) We need to stop moralizing our food. Food isn't good or evil. True, your body isn't going to react well to subsisting solely on McDonald's Big Macs, but your body also isn't going to react well to subsisting solely on kidney beans ...or to subsisting solely on heads of lettuce. The key is eating a reasonably balanced diet.

3) We need to stop viewing food as if it's poison. Last time I checked, food was pretty high on our list of biological requirements, right up there with air and water.

Granted, this is an "Onion" article, and thus not meant to be taken seriously, but still...

Breaking News - Snuggies are Available for Dogs

Finally! Given that snuggies are all the rage in fashion now days, it's about time a doggy-version is released. Now your four-legged friend can look like a creepy cult member too. Unfortunately, the blood color, seems to have been discontinued.

Obama as the Joker.

Oh boy... here we go! When you loose the respect of the Los Angeles artistic freeway poster crowd, you're on your way down. heh.

Great Britian and George Orwell

Contrary to the current belief's of many English government types, George Orwell's 1984 was not an instruction manual. Seriously, if Orwell had written about a PROGRAM LIKE THIS, it would have been laughed off as completely impossible. Alas, it is no longer fiction - it's actually happening.

I just wonder when/if the English will stand up and say, "ENOUGH!". I fear they won't. In my time there, I found WAY too many people who would say things like, "Well, if you don't do any thing wrong, you don't have to worry, right?" I fear that reactions such as those will be all too common - and England will slip in to a "Benign Dictatorship" - if there is such a thing.

It's happening. It's not fantasy. It's not fiction. It's real.

"Do it fast" and Health Care reform

Expect to see A LOT more of this type of thing as this abomination of a bill goes forward. We're getting really close to torches, pitchforks, and riots. Heck, if I were Specter in this video, I would have been more than a little nervous - that audience is REALLY, REALLY mad, and he doesn't seem to even understand WHY. Amazing.

LINK FOR MORE INFO HERE.

Gates and the Right to be Rude to a Cop

Last night Elizabeth and I were talking about the Gates case. Aside from the issues of race relations and racial profiling, there is another important issue that this case brings up.

Should cops be able to arrest you for being rude to them? Although I'm generally pro-police, the answer to this is unequivocally "NO". You have a right to be a jerk to a cop, as long as you aren't threatening. We as a society walk a fine line between civil rights and security. When security is not being threatened, civil rights MUST be maintained. This entire argument is fleshed out in great detail HERE IN THIS Reason.com article.

THIS ARTICLE on Forbes is a little longer and filled with lots of legalese, but it outlines in great detail why the arrest was probably a violation of the First Amendment.

Sex Toys for Dogs!

er... um... er... honestly, I'm speechless.

There's Been a Lot of Anti-Obama Junk on this Blog...

Let's lighten things up a little and explore the slightly more absurd for a while. As all of my regular readers are will aware, I've been designing some artwork for sale on Zazzle.com.

In my short time on Zazzle, I've run across a wide range of utter crap. Stuff that people spent 3.4 seconds designing, and even less making sure it looks good on the product they are tying to sell. So I decided to mock them. Yes, it's childish, it's mean, it's totally juvenile - but it's funny and I enjoy it. And so "You Suck at Zazzle" was born.

Enjoy. I do.

Santa Cruz City Council Meeting and Drugs

Oh boy... this is absolutely hilarious. This woman makes her case for solving all of California's crop/farming/food issues. It's three minutes of the most incoherent, rambling, non-nonsensical gibberish you'll ever hear. I bet the city counselors understood and agreed with all of it... haha.

Warning, watching the video will make you dumber. A lot dumber.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Mark Steyn on Obama and Racism

I've always been a fan of Mark Steyn and his writing. He's got a singular wit and sense of humor that you just don't find in many political editorialists. HERE Mark weighs in on the Obama/Massachusetts cop controversy. A worthy read.

I thought Hirohito surrendered to Michael Jackson on the Battlestar Galactica

It seems like everyday, this idiot does or says something stupid. And I though we got rid of the idiot President... Hey Barack, Hirohito WASN'T THERE for the Japanese surrender ceremony.

And while were on the topic... why do you make it sound like our victory over the Japanese in WWII was a bad thing? It's almost as if you sound ashamed and wouldn't want a repeat of that result.

On behalf of all the Americans, Australians, and other Allied Forces who fought against the Japanese (including my Grandfather) - Fuck you, you ignorant jerk.

Horrifying

Obama and the government are "going to tell doctors" how to do their jobs.

This is terrifying. Truly, truly terrifying.




More reading on the issue of Procedures and medicine HERE. Worth the time to check it out.

Creeping Totalitarianism

Stuff LIKE THIS just creeps me out. There is SO much potential for abuse. The government is NOT your friend. There is no rational reason for them to do this type of thing.

And don't give me that "if you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about" bullshit. The government has NO right to monitor the movement of innocent people who are just going about their business in a public place. None. Ever.

$4 Trillion... and Counting

The Federal Government is spending more money than it did in WWII. Actually, it has been for a while, but take a look at THIS GRAPH. The numbers are getting insane. Glenn Reynolds calls it "looting". That's not strong enough for me. I think these assholes know that this will destroy the value of the dollar and is completely unsustainable. They are trying to create a financial crisis. Once there is a proper crisis, they can cram through whatever legislation they want.

I think this spending is treason.

Yeah, that's a strong statement - not one that I'd make lightly.

The Federal Gov. is not spending TWICE what it did as near back as 2000. Does anyone think we didn't have enough government then? This is a massive payoff to the well connected and politically influential.

Can We Call Obama a Communist Yet?

As sure as the sun rises in the East - the new Obamacare plan has a section which essentially makes private insurance illegal.

Oh.

My.

God.

We are so screwed.

More on Health Care and Free Markets HERE.

The Hidden Cost of Nationalized Health Care

This is a great article by Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit). He's spot on with this. Innovation is largely a capitalist enterprise. As soon as the politicians get a hold on your health care, it's inevitable that health decisions will become political.

"Fashionable" with large, boisterous (think breast cancer) advocacy groups will get the lion's share of research and development dollars. Less "popular" diseases (think chronic renal failure) will fall by the wayside.

Sale Made on Zazzle

Another Zazzle thing... someone bought 20 of these stickers last night. I have a series of these with different animals. Thanks to whoever bought them!

Camouflage Eagle Silhouette by evrose
Browse more Camouflage Stickers

Today's Best Award on Zazzle

Yesterday I got notice that one of my Dragons won a "Today's Best Award". Yippie. What does that really mean? It simply means that someone at Zazzle thought that my design was really cool and deserved to be featured on the front page of the site for a day. Pretty cool - it's always nice to be noticed. Here's the design:

Blue and Gold Metal Dragon by Dragon_Keeper
More Blue T-Shirts

The Future of Obamacare

Ah Medicare - the current Government run health care program. Isn't it FANTASTIC?!?

Sadly, this "opting out" will become the norm if Obama's plan comes to fruition. Lot's of senior doctors will simply retire or move on to non-clinical careers. I predict the supply of doctors in America will be hit - hard. And there's a shortage already.

Reliving the Walkman

HERE IS A STORY of a kid who traded in his iPod for a Walkman for a week. I had a Walkman a lot like that way back. Then one Christmas in the late 80's, I got a DISCMAN and thought I had died and gone to high-technology heaven.

It's really cool to see how far this stuff has come in one short generation. Makes me anxious to see what things will be like in another 20 years.

Gain Weight, Live Longer

THIS is an interesting study regarding weight and life-span. Don't be afraid to have that extra donut.

There's another blogger/nutritionist who's been saying the SAME THING for a while now.

Bottom line: Everything in moderation and don't sweat a couple pounds here or there.