Solidarity!
 

2, though the insurance companies are also none too thrilled about it either. The hospitals desperately, desperately want it, because they're going broke having to cover so much uncompensated care.

Solidarity!
 

Apropos of that, the LAT ran an article on Sunday explaining that about two dozen Southland hospitals are in financial straights for this very reason. Apolcalypse to follow.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

Columbia doesn't give him any legitimacy at all. He gets that in Iran. Columbia has a role in deciding whether Gallagher is an artist, but it does not have a role in deciding who runs Iran. A. gets invited to Columbia because he *is* the leader of Iran, not because his ideas about history and reality are meritorious in their own right.

Solidarity!
 

These companies are operating at a competitive disadvantage relative to their foreign competitors, and their albatross is our health-care system.

You're like a modern-day Martin Luther.

There were typos negating entire arguments in those dealy-boppers he nailed to the doors?

Probably. Gutenberg hadn't invented white-out.

Solidarity!
 

Yes that is true about the insurance companies. If in my hand I am holding the Drug companies, insurance companies and the AMA, and in your hand you are holding every other large company in America, I have a pair of sevens and you are holding a royal flush.

Corporate America wants, the majority of people want it, the hospitals want it and the entire Democrat party wants it. Game over.

By the way, on the on going debate about medical care in the US a week ago I was hanging out with Less and got head butted by drunken Irishman who broke my nose. The ambulance picked me up and took me to the nastiest hospital in San Francisco (located in the Tenderloin) and I got amazing treatment. My private physician who took out my stitches four days later said the ER doctor did an excellent job. I was put in a private room that was clean and I got lots of attention.. The doctor told me that they mostly received homeless people and drug addicts in this hospital, but it still was incredibly clean. Better treatment than I ever received in England, France, Italy or Japan. The hospital I went to in England was in the burbs near Gatwick and it was dirty and the doctor was a moron. In the worst part of San Francisco I got A-1 service. Ask Less about it, he was with me.

But unlike Martin Luther I reveled in the hypocrisy.

Social Conservatives are at it again in the Golden State
 

Here they go again: These guys are just incredible.


Banned Books Week


Banned Books Week
By Raija Curchill

Banned Books Week promotes every person's freedom to express opinions, and to access all opinions, even when "unorthodox or unpopular." It is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and begins on Saturday, September 29. Intellectual freedom is a wonderful part of the American way. This week dealing with censorship, however, is misleading. Not only is "censorship" a routine aspect of every librarian's work, but the titles on ALA's Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2006 list are shockingly inappropriate for their target audiences.

ALA defines censorship as changing an item's accessibility, based on its content, when the decision is made by a governing authority. Librarians routinely make such decisions on the front end: what materials they will, and will not, introduce into their libraries. Yet requiring minors to get parental permission before borrowing R rated movies is "censorship." Restricting children's access to pornography is "censorship." ALA encourages librarians to maintain the "confidentiality" of young adults, which in publishing terms, means 12 through 18 year olds. This makes parenting harder. It is censorship, though, that Banned Books Week calls "harmful."

There is a crucial difference between suppressing free speech and determining what is appropriate for schoolyard reading. Every title on ALA's Most Frequently Challenged Books list is used in schools and/or written for school aged students. They were challenged for content: sexual content, occult/Satanism, drug use, violence, and more. Consider three examples:

· And Tango Makes Three, written for children aged four to eight, is based on a true story about two male penguins and their baby Tango. It teaches that homosexual families are natural and good.

· The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things is written for 12-15 year olds. The ALA's Booklist describes its protagonist: "She wants a boyfriend, but she settles for Froggy Welsh, who comes over on Mondays to grope her." Around its sexual theme, this book discusses family dysfunction, self-mutilation, female masturbation, and date rape.

· The Perks of Being a Wallflower chronicles the maturation of Charlie, who was sexually abused as a child. He smokes pot to gain friends. He drops acid. According to Insight Magazine, the book includes boy-dog sex, man-boy sex, anal sex between boys, male masturbation, and female masturbation.

Challenging a book does not prevent adults from reading it. This is about who shapes the morals of American students. Parents deserve support in their efforts to protect children from unsuitable content. According to ALA, the "positive message" of Banned Books Week is that "most challenges are unsuccessful." These books are regularly "retained in the school curriculum or library collection." Yet when ALA frames Banned Books Week in terms of censoring ideas, it is not promoting the American way. It is undermining conscientious parents across the nation.

For Banned Books Week this year, consider asking your library about its policies on pornographic and R rated materials. If you enjoy a pro-family book that is not in your library, you can make a purchase request. Do your part to support families in your community.

American Library Association Banned Books Week

ALA's Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2006


Raija Churchill, a senior at Patrick Henry College, is an intern filling the position of Research Associate. Her work for CRI includes a booklet informing parents about what children encounter in public schools, from vaccinations to teaching on Islam. It will show parents their rights-and equip them to respond. Other research includes a comparison of the political parties' values on issues that impact California families.

Raija's prior research for the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus and national organizations detailed the illegal use of federal funds in abortion programs. Under former TIME senior correspondent Dr. David Aikman, she researched legal and human rights issues in intercountry adoption. Her volunteer work in disaster preparation has been recognized by the American Red Cross and others.

Solidarity!
 

Goes to show, folks, if you're going to get head-butted by a drunken Irishman, much better for it to be in San Francisco than in the slums of Gatwick, Paris, Milan or Tokyo.

(No word on New York.)

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

I have to go with Ty on this one. Let the guy speak. Shows we are better thanthey are. I would love to attend that speach and be able to ask questions.

Solidarity!
 

No it is better to be in the slums of San Franciso than in the nice areas of Gatwick, Paris, Florence or Tokyo.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

Bullshit. I admire the guy, in a sense. He and Jong-Il are the only "third-world" leaders with the balls to say "If you can have nukes, I can too - my country is just as valid as yours."

Solidarity!
 

And we'd already have it if only people listened to Hilary!

Will you be leading Hil's efforts in yonder Valley?

Social Conservatives are at it again in the Golden State
 

I can always trust your buddies in the Republican party to keep that Radical Librarian Democrats in line!

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

After the Minutemen incident. Columbia cannot be cheapened any more than it already has.

Double Nickels on the Dime
 

The allowed this Iranian asshole to speak, but wouldn't let D Boone play? Bastards.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

2 We look like idiots. We let Krushchev speak. We let Castro speak. Why not this guy?

Last I heard you couldn't gain insight into your enemy ignoring him. What other than a learning experience could his speech be? Really? WTF is the matter with this country. We're so high on our fucking childish moral certainties in this country it's embarrassing. This guy's an awful guy, but ignoring him is possibly only sure fire unproductive and probably counterproductive reaction we could have to his appearance. He's the best add against his kind. I say let him put a mini-series on PBS and give him a talk show.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

I don't have a problem with that, per se. The fact that someone totally batshit crazy has nukes bugs me. It's the "kill the Jews and fags and every one who isn't just like me" thing that bugs me.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

2. Who the fuck are we to say he's got no right to have nukes? We can bomb him to stop him from having nukes, but we're deluded idiots to say Iran has no right to have whatever weapons it wants to have. Considering Iran's list of powerful enemies, the country would be batshit crazy NOT to seek nukes.

I've never been comfortable with the term "Sunni Insurgent" either. They ran the country. We bombed it and took it over and they're the "insurgents" for trying to win back the power they had? WTF? WE, not Iraqis fighting us, are the aggressors in a foreign land.

This is an issue of picking sides. We pick our side because we want our soldiers to succeed. But we're not on the side of good or evil. We're on the side of our interests. Nothing more, nothing less. And the "good guy v. bad guy" fiction so many idiots in this country slap onto these geopolitical strategy moves, which Iraq is, is just so ludicrous.

It's the same flawed moron mindset that calls victims of any attack "heros," even if they did nothing save being victimized.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

Travel through the rural parts of the country. 50 miles outside any city you can find plenty of folks who hate Jews, Papists, Blacks, queers, etc... But you're right about the nukes. That's not a good thing. If a megachurch in Mississippi were to arm itself wirth nukes, I'd move to Anchorage.

I only get the Chronicle, so it's possible I missed the part where Iran killed six million Jews. Or has denying the Holocaust become morally equivalent to having been personally responsible for it?

If it's the latter, I need to have a heart to heart with my friends who are PDs.

did you start drinking lots while you were gone?

hitler gave the order to kill the 6 million. he had access to 6 million plus the tools.

your guy has given the order to kill the jews, but they're stil too far away. Sebby and Less think we should let him have the tools to kill them far away.

I see little difference.

I know you know this is bullshit. Neither of us want him to have nukes. I just cannot come up with a fair rationale (other than self-interest) for why other sovereign nations can't join the club.

The last guy you equivalized to Hitler turned out to be pathetic and dangerous to no one other than those who repeatedly elected him. You think I'm going to fall for it again?

Call me when the real Hitler returns. By which I mean never, because that motherfucker's got to be over 100 by now.

self-interest is a good one though. I was watching the Ken Burns thing tonight. It was pretty interesting. we killed lots of French and Italian citizens to "liberate" them. We supposedly did bombings to German cities that were much worse than the blitz. In a sense wasn't that war just about self interest?

Hell Sebastian thinks you have to go 50 miles outside a city to find people who hate fags. Detroit voted 70-30 % to ban gan marriages. I'm talking about the inner city of Detroit. it voted 90% for Kerry the same night.

All people are as tribal as when Neanderthal fought cro-magnon. just because you all get soy latte instead of mastodon blood to get you going in the morning doesn't change it.

ty was not elected. slave gave him the keys. but thanks for playing.

You will get no argument from this real-politikian.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

It has nothing to do with morals, and I understand the argument of letting him hang himself. But unfortunately the Arab world does not live by the same belief system that we do, and I fear that the appearance will be used to prop him up and legitimize him in the Arab world in the same way that allowing him to visit the towers would have.

Were you in favor of allowing him to visit the towers?

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

Agreed. And we, and more pointedly Israel, would be batshit crazy to allow it to happen. But they will get them, as will many other countries, so our only hope is that the people who run those countries value life more than power. Which is why I'm with Howard Stern on this one - we need to be exporting porn, prostitution, booze and drugs throughout the world. It's pretty hard to think about blowing up your neighbor when you've got a head full of whiskey and a couple of pros on your lap.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

Pick a country you think is corrupt and debauched. Say, France. Which speaking engagements there would prop President Bush up and legitimize him in your eyes?

Mostly I'm posting this because I have faith it will provoke Hank to post something funny.

Batshit Crazy Dictator In NY, Today's Version
 

He's already speaking to the General Assembly at the UN -- I doubt that adding Columbia University would add to his prestige in the Arab or Persian or Islamic world. (Whether this is a good idea for Columbia, in light of its own issues with free speech and New York politics, is a different issue.)

And I would let anyone go to Ground Zero to lay a wreath. As for having an Iranian president do the honors, I read somewhere that there were somber candlelit vigils in Iran after 9/11, unlike Penske's cheering Palestinians.

No one should be allowed to give speeches there.

Pssst -- which side was Italy on until Patton and Montgomery landed on the boot? As for the Germans, we've all read Vonnegut, so we know about Dresden. And as for what happened to the Japanese, you don't have to even mention the atomic bombs -- the firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945 killed more civilians than the second atomic bomb did in Nagasaki

WWII about self-interest? Sure, if by "self-interest" you mean "self-preservation."

I'm just now getting used to the idea that blogger's opinions can be cited as fact. You do realize a novel is set up as fiction on it's face, right?

BTW, if my novel does get published, the character that you wil all recognize as Shape shifter, the part about the sheep when he was growing up, i have no knowledge that it actually happened.

Warren Pease . . . is Warren Pease present?
 

So, Napolean never invaded Russia? My bad.

You do realize that Dresden is a real city and that it was actually firebombed in WWII, right? Thousands of innocent men, women, and children died there.

I'm not making any moral judgments here, other than to point out the silliness of your post, and I want to go on record as saying that silliness, or even stupidity, are not immoral in my eyes.

I don't know how long a thought sticks in your brain, not long i fear, but go back and read my post that bob responded to.

my point was that we probably shouldn't take Vonnegut's word. do you believe Billy Pilgrim and Montana wildwhatever are still screwing in some extraterrestrial zoo somewhere?

Hint: there is probably pretty convincing evidence of a convincing quality for one of these and not for the other.

Warren Pease . . . is Warren Pease present?
 

you know what i meant. the problem with you making posts like this is that your side has some dull-normal people posting here and you owe them to not mislead them intellectually this way. they trust you to be intellectually honest.