Today in History

Reps Gain Pachadermic Symbol

My Way - My Way Today - This Day in History

1874The Republican party was first symbolized as an elephant in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.

FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Weighty Debate Over Obesity

NB to Gov't: Please Don't Label Obesity a Disease

Next we will hear that obesity is protected under the ADA and THEN we'll really be srewed. You think the cost of prescription drugs for the elderly is going to be high, imagine if every obese person was able to force employers to pay for their diets. And, knowing the gov't as we do, imagine that every quack diet out there would suddenly be paid for by YOUR DOLLARS. Not to mention the punitive damages awarded to obese folks by juries intent on punishing their "mean employers" for allowing them to be fat.

American's spend over $33 Billion each year on weight loss products and services and over $122.9 Billion on all obesity related products, services, health care, etc.

BTW - they are defining overweight as being over 25 in the Body Mass Index (BMI) scale. This means that most bodybuilders are overweight or even obese. Go figure.

FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Weighty Debate Over Obesity

So it might seem reasonable that the American Obesity Association (search) is pushing the Food and Drug Administration to classify the condition as a disease.

But critics say the AOA's goal isn't healthier Americans, but healthier bank accounts for their backers like Slim-Fast, Weight Watchers and producers of appetite suppressants. Foes of the AOA argue that if obesity is considered a disease, insurers will be forced to pay for weight loss regimens — which would serve to fatten the companies' profits.

The AOA counters that people with skin cancer or AIDS aren't denied insurance even though their conditions are behavior-driven — just like obesity.

Yep, Jobless Allright . . . .

Yep, Jobless Allright . . . .

USATODAY.com - Unemployment rate drops to 6% as number of jobs surges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 6% in October as companies added thousands of new jobs for the third straight month, the government said Friday in a surprisingly rosy report showing the labor market at last catching up with the broader recovery.
The Labor Department reported payrolls grew by 126,000 last month, significantly more than the 50,000 new jobs that economists had predicted. That followed a revised 125,000 new jobs in September, which initially was reported at 57,000.

And Hell Freezes Over . . .

And Hell Freezes Over . . .

Al Shaprton finally got something right and abandoned the usual racist blubbering he is accustomed to.

Sharpton breaks ranks on Brown - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics

The Rev. Al Sharpton implored Senate Democrats yesterday not to filibuster President Bush's nomination of California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the nation's second-highest federal court.

Justice Brown, who is black, has come under intense criticism by liberal black groups, such as the NAACP, and by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel plans to vote this morning on her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

'I don't agree with her politics. I don't agree with some of her background,' said Mr. Sharpton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. 'But she should get an up-or-down vote.'

Coulter on the Dems "Plan"

Coulter on the Dems "Plan"

Ann Coulter: 'The Plan'

Transforming a blood-soaked police state dotted with mass graves and rape rooms into a self-governing republic might take slightly longer than this week's makeover on 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. . . .'

The Democrats' urgent need for an "exit strategy" apparently first arose sometime after 1993, when Bill Clinton sent all those U.S. soldiers to Bosnia -- who are still there. The Democrats' conception of a "plan" is like the liberal fantasy that there's a room somewhere full of unlimited amounts of "free" money that we could just give to teachers and hospitals and poor people and AIDS sufferers and the homeless if only the bad, greedy Republicans would give us the key to that wonderful room. Republicans should claim the "plan" is in that room. In a lockbox.

Onion: Protect Us, Oh Great Gov't!

Onion: Protect Us, Oh Great Gov't!

The Onion | Americans Demand Increased Governmental Protection From Selves

NEW YORK—Alarmed by the unhealthy choices they make every day, more and more Americans are calling on the government to enact legislation that will protect them from their own behavior.

"The government is finally starting to take some responsibility for the effect my behavior has on others," said New York City resident Alec Haverchuk, 44, who is prohibited by law from smoking in restaurants and bars. "But we have a long way to go. I can still light up on city streets and in the privacy of my own home. I mean, legislators acknowledge that my cigarette smoke could give others cancer, but don't they care about me, too?"

"It's not just about Americans eating too many fries or cracking their skulls open when they fall off their bicycles," said Los Angeles resident Rebecca Burnie, 26. "It's a financial issue, too. I spend all my money on trendy clothes and a nightlife that I can't afford. I'm $23,000 in debt, but the credit-card companies keep letting me spend. It's obscene that the government allows those companies to allow me to do this to myself. Why do I pay my taxes . . . ?"

"Legislation targeting harmful substances like drugs and alcohol is a good start, but that's all it is—a start," Andelman said. "My car automatically puts my seatbelt on me whenever I get into it. There's no chance that I'll make the risky decision to leave it off. So why am I still legally allowed to drink too much caffeine, watch television for seven hours a day, and, in some states, even ride in the back of a pick-up truck? It just isn't right. . . ."

Rev. Ted Hinson, founder of the Christian activist group Please God Stop Me, said he believes that the government will listen.

"For years, legislators have done an admirable job of listening to constituents who want the dangerous, undesirable behavior of their neighbors regulated," Hinson said. "That is a good sign for those of us who wish for greater protection from ourselves. But you should see the filth I still have access to, just by walking into a store or flipping on my computer. There is still much work to be done if we are going to achieve the ideal nanny-state."

Bernard Nathansen, an attorney for the Personal Rights Deferred Center in Oakes, VA, is one of many individuals working to promote "governmental accountability. . . ."

"We can all agree that many choices are too important to be left up to a highly flawed individual," Nathansen said. "Decisions that directly affect our health, or allow us to expose ourselves to potential risks, should be left to the wiser, cooler heads of the government."

"But things like food and drug labels are half-measures," Nathansen said. "The regulations, however well-intentioned, often allow citizens the choice of ignoring the instructions. Many current laws were written primarily to protect others from our dangerous actions, with no concern for the deleterious effect our actions can have on ourselves. The government must do more."

To this end, Personal Rights Deferred has compiled an action list of more than 700 behaviors it wants regulated by state or federal authorities. The list includes such risky behaviors as swimming in cold weather and staying up all night playing video games.

"The fact is, personal responsibility doesn't work," Nathansen said. "Take a good look at the way others around you are living, and I'm sure you'll agree. It's time for the American people to demand that someone force them to do something about it."

Dems Deny Dirty Dealings

Dems Deny Dirty Dealings

Democrats Mull Politicizing Iraq War Intelligence

WASHINGTON — Fox News has obtained a document believed to have been written by the Democratic staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee (search) that outlines a strategy for exposing what it calls 'the administration's dubious motives' in the lead-up to the war in Iraq.
The memo, provided late Tuesday by a source on the Committee and reported by Fox News' Sean Hannity, discusses the timing of a possible investigation into pre-war Iraq (search) intelligence in such a way that it could bring maximum embarrassment to President Bush in his re-election campaign.

Among other things, the memo recommends that Democrats 'prepare to launch an investigation when it becomes clear we have exhausted the opportunity to usefully collaborate with the [Senate] majority. We can pull the trigger on an independent investigation of the administration's use of intelligence at any time — but we can only do so once ... the best time would probably be next year.'

The last paragraph of the memo reads, 'Intelligence issues are clearly secondary to the public's concern regarding the insurgency in Iraq.'

Boortz on Healthcare and Fires

Boortz on Healthcare and Fires

The first half of this article is a bit weak, but this last bit right on the money. People don't realize that asking the gov't to handle their health care needs is dangerous and will frustrate the ever-livin' hell out of them. Imagine a health care system that treats you that same way you are treated at the DMV? Great idea, right?

WorldNetDaily: Starting your life all over again?

One more thing about the fires ... more particularly the Cedar fire outside of San Diego. You do know that this fire was first discovered around 5:30 one evening by a helicopter pilot, don't you? At the time the Cedar fire was first discovered it was about half the size of a football field.

Within minutes, another helicopter with a bucket of firefighting slurry slung underneath was on the way to douse this young blazing upstart. That's when government bureaucracy got in the way. That helicopter was a mere five minutes from the Cedar fire when it was called back. There was some sort of regulation on the books in California which stated that aircraft could not be used to attack a fire within 30 minutes of sundown. Sundown was about 20 minutes away, so the helicopter was called back.

Firefighters feel certain that the Cedar fire could have been contained within an hour or so with the help of that one helicopter dump. But, thanks to the workings of government bureaucracy, that fire grew overnight to become the largest brushfire in the history of the state of California – and a murderous one. It killed over 13 people.

Pay attention to this, my friends, for this is the way government makes life-or-death decisions. The rules said no aircraft fighting fires after 30 minutes before sundown. The rules are followed, people die and hundreds of homes are lost.

Right now, the American people are clamoring for more government involvement in their health care. Consider, please, the demonstrated decision-making abilities of government. When it's your life instead of a mountainside of brush that is threatened by disaster, do you want government making the decisions on how the threat is to be fought?

Homicide Bomber Blows Self Up but Misses Everyone Else

Homicide Bomber Blows Self Up but Misses Everyone Else

Middle East Online [WARNING: Graphic content]

17-year-old Palestinian blows himself up near Qalqilya after being hunted by Israeli army causing no damages.

AZUN, West Bank - A teenage Palestinian suicide bomber who was being hunted by Israeli security services blew up himself up near the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya Monday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.
No one else was injured in the explosion in the village of Azun, which lies close to the Jewish settlement of Shavei Shomron, the sources added.

More on Justice Brown

More on Justice Brown

Armstrong Williams: Judge Brown and the new racism

Just like that, all of Judge Brown's hard work-she rose up from a segregated Alabama community to achieve personal and professional success -- dissolve beneath the hurtful and reductive label of "Uncle Tom." This is no different than using the "N-word" to sum up an individual.

This is the approach the Democrats take every time a conservative minority is nominated for a position of prominence. This is what I call, "new racism." It's about systematically preventing conservative blacks and Hispanics from achieving positions of prominence in this country. It's about summing up complex human beings by the color of their skin. And it sends the damaging message that because we share the same skin color, we all need to think, act and vote the same way.

American Blacks and Hispanics are complex human beings. They should be allowed the intellectual freedom to arrive at those views and values that are the best mesh with their individual personalities. Whites can vote for whomever they chose. But minorities are told that they must be liberals or they're traitors to their race. This is one more assault on intellectual freedom and diversity, conducted by patronizing Democrats who still feel they know what is best for blacks and Hispanics.

"I have only one agenda when I approach a case, and that is to try to get it right," Brown told the Senate Judiciary Committee at her confirmation hearing. It's a shame that at this late date, ranking Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are more interested in the hue of her skin.

Bush, Roosevelt, and the Economy

Bush, Roosevelt, and the Economy

Economic clues from the past -- The Washington Times

Where Mr. Black differs from the left critique of Roosevelt is by adopting the traditional liberal defense of his policies, exemplified by Arthur Schlesinger's three-volume history of the Roosevelt administration, and wrapping it in conservative clothing. He defends all of the New Deal economic policies as excellent "crisis management," even though he admits the actual economics deserve only a "passing grade."

Mr. Black's thesis is plausible, and I look forward to reading his analysis in more depth. But I think he too readily excuses Roosevelt's policies as perhaps unhelpful, but not really harmful. Therefore, it should be read together with two other recent histories of that period, Jim Powell's "FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression" (Crown Forum, 2003), and Gene Smiley's "Rethinking the Great Depression" (Ivan R. Dee, 2002).

Both agree with prominent economic historian Robert Higgs — that Roosevelt's policies were far from benign and prevented an economic recovery from taking hold sooner. Mr. Higgs goes so far as to call the New Deal "a collection of crackpot policies" that prolonged and deepened the Depression, bringing unnecessary suffering to millions.

As the U.S. definitely emerges from its 10th postwar recession, Republicans and Democrats are essentially arguing the same question: Did Mr. Bush's policies make it better or worse? Next year, voters will decide. A better understanding of the Great Depression and New Deal may help them do so.

Janice Brown as Libertarian

Janice Brown as Libertarian

Good Judge: The case for Janice Brown

What is most remarkable about Brown's jurisprudence is that she sees all basic individual rights as equally fundamental. Unlike many liberals, she counts property rights and economic liberties as deserving of judicial protection. In Santa Monica Beach, Ltd. v. Superior Court (1999), for instance, she dissented from a decision upholding a rent control ordinance, declaring that "[a]rbitrary government actions which infringe property interests cannot be saved from constitutional infirmity by the beneficial purposes of the regulators."

In a dissent in San Remo Hotel v. City and County of San Francisco (2002), which upheld the city's sweeping property restrictions, Justice Brown expanded on that theme. "Theft is still theft even when the government approves of the thievery," she declared. "The right to express one's individuality and essential human dignity through the free use of property is just as important as the right to do so through speech, the press, or the free exercise of religion."

Brown also consistently upholds such rights as freedom of speech, privacy, and the rights of criminal defendants—a position that bothers many conservatives. In People v. Woods (1999), Justice Brown objected to a police search of a home justified by the fact that a roommate was an ex-felon. "In appending the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, the framers sought to protect individuals against government excess," she wrote. "High in that pantheon was the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures."