Friday, January 15, 2010

plus 4, Local news shows are where the biased action is - Hotair.com

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plus 4, Local news shows are where the biased action is - Hotair.com

Local news shows are where the biased action is - Hotair.com

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 12:33 PM PST

I've used the example of breast implants, but the formula works for any perceived wrongdoing. And even if trial lawyers aren't involved, victim status is — with the promise of fixing the boo-boo — "Working for you." As one news director I worked for once said, "There are lots of things to be afraid of out there." Indeed, cancer, household bacteria, child predators, hot weather, cold weather, tap water, electromagnetic fields, vaccinations, Chinese food, Mexican food, racism, fertilizers, homophobia, hate crimes, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

And, who is most likely to be afraid of these threats? Well, the mainstream media machine, cynically and manipulatively, believes it's that key demographic group, women ages 18-49. They, according to consultants and marketing executives, control the household remote and make the buying decisions. No. One. Else. Matters.

In an ultimate display of hypocritical sexism, your local liberal newsroom treats women of that coveted demographic group as if they were frightened wards of the nanny state, as if they were children incapable of weighing risk against advantage, detriment against benefit. It plies them with a daily dose of all the things one must be afraid of. And it cynically taps into those traits that evolution has bestowed women with in greater quantity than men — compassion and empathy.

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Itchy nipple and swollen right arm pit! - HealthCentral.com

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 11:43 AM PST

Hi, I went to the doctors two days ago with a bad itchy right nipple and my right arm pit is swollen, feels very weird. My nipple has itched for a while ( weeks), they are sending me to get it checked ou on Thursday. I am so nervous, dont think there are lumps as such, however, my nipple and boob tends to feel warm soemtimes, does not feel the same as it used too. I have a real bad feeling, what do you think?

 

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Beware the ObamaCare Revolution - Reason.com

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 12:12 PM PST

"I am not the first president to take up this cause [of health care reform], but I am determined to be the last one," President Barack Obama declared in September. But history will force the president to eat his smooth bravado if he signs anything resembling what's on the table right now.

Far from settling the issue once and for all, the bill will usher even fiercer confrontations—not only on health care but on constitutional matters of governance as well—that will make the current battle look like the political equivalent of a spit-ball fight.

The Senate and the House begin reconciling their versions of health care "reform" this week. But everyone—barring die-hard Obama supporters—now believes that the outcome is going to be more botched than Michael Jackson's nose. There is a growing consensus in both the right and the left that the individual mandate provision, which is almost certain to be part of the final bill, represents a kind of neo-feudalism. Liberty-lovers (like myself) hate it because it will mean that for the first time ever, Americans will be forced to buy a service as a condition of lawful residence in this country. Americans will lose control over their money without the government even having the decency to formally call for a tax increase.

Progressives are offended too—not because the mandate involves a new leap in state power, but because this power would be unevenly wielded. They would be fine with the mandate if it were accompanied with an outright ban on insurance company profits or at least a public option to drive these profits down. Absent that, all it will do, they argue not without plausibility, is deliver a captive audience to insurance companies.

Since the odds at this stage that the final bill will include their beloved public option are next to zero, the left's next big battle will involve reinstating it while Obama is still in office. The biggest impediment to their ambition—as the current health care battle has made clear—isn't going to be evil Republicans or the venal insurance industry, but America's system of checks and balances. In particular, the Senate filibuster rules.

These rules are what gave blue dog Senate Democrats the power to stand up to their party bosses and derail the public option even though Democrats control the White House, the House and have a near supermajority in the Senate. And so long as these rules exist, enacting this option will only get harder when Democrats lose their overwhelming political advantage as is likely to happen this November. Hence it is no surprise that the liberal punditocracy is demanding the annulment of the filibuster—even though, ironically enough, it was a Democratic-controlled Senate that reinstated it in 1975 after a long hiatus.

Filibuster is not a beautiful thing, but it is a long established tool for checking overweening political ambition—and it can't be abolished without a bruising political battle. To the extent that most laws involve an expansion of government power, scrapping it will inevitably empower the government against its citizens. What's more, a president—a minority of one—will be able to override Congress with a stroke of his pen. But even 49 senators won't be able to stop him from ramming his agenda through their chamber.

This will shift the balance-of-power away from Congress and toward the president, diminishing his incentive to court political opponents, further polarizing the country. If the Tea Party disgust with government expansion is approaching revolutionary fervor now, imagine what will happen if a serious attempt is made to mess with a basic internal check on government power to shove a public option down the country's throat.

But with or without the public option, both the Senate and House bills involve a de facto nationalization of health care. The government already pays for half of the health care consumed in this country through Medicare, Medicaid and the veteran's administration. Another trillion dollars-plus of health care subsidies will give the government a majority stake.

And there is no sign that it plans to be a hands-off stakeholder. The panoply of mandates and regulations that Democrats are proposing--guaranteed coverage of pre-existing conditions; money back to policy holders if insurance companies' administrative costs exceed 10 percent of their revenues, etc.—will put the government squarely in the driver's seat. No less than the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that "this further expansion of the federal government's role in the health insurance market [that the Senate bill entails] would make such insurance an essentially governmental program."

The upshot of all this won't be unlimited, top-notch health care for everyone, as the Democratic establishment is promising. To the contrary, with individual patients losing even nominal control of their medical dollars, the health care system will be powered less by patient needs, and more by collective social goals dictated by politicians driven by powerful lobbies adept at political marketing.

Nationalized health care systems always and everywhere face a contest between competing interests trying to capture scarce medical dollars. If, say, women with breast cancer shame political authorities into approving expensive cancer-fighting drugs, men launch their own campaign to shift medical dollars to prostate cancer treatment. Patients who lack the political savvy or represent disfavored causes—obesity, smokers, homosexuality—inevitably get relegated to second class medical status. If money poses an unfair obstacle for patients in a market-based system as progressives allege, can they with a straight face claim that the political establishment doesn't pose a far bigger obstacle in a government-run system?

But it is not just patients who are pitted against each other; providers are too. Unlike in a market where competition and innovation is always expanding the medical pie, in a nationalized system providers are engaged in a zero-sum game. Every dollar that goes for reduction of infant mortality to a pediatrician is one that doesn't go to a neurologist for Parkinson's treatment.

Since there is no equitable formula to deal with all these competing claims, politicians under nationalized health care are constantly tinkering and experimenting to fashion the system after their own pet causes. Even basic questions as to whether a health care system should be more cost-effective or more accessible become subject to political whim. For instance, England's Labor government some years ago repealed the internal market reforms put in place by the previous Conservative government to bring some cost discipline to the country's government-run National Health Service—only to reinstate these reforms after costs started exploding once again.

In short, if ObamaCare passes next month, America's health care system won't be revolutionized so much as thrown into a state of permanent revolution. Hence, its opponents can either redouble their efforts to strangle this monster in its crib now—or prepare for endless political warfare later.

Shikha Dalmia is a senior analyst at Reason Foundation and a bi-weekly columnist at Forbes. This column originally appeared at Forbes.

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9 Things To Do Around The Tri-State This Weekend - WCPO

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 11:43 AM PST

Top 9 Things To Do This Weekend Around The Tri-State

1. Eat:

Before you get your weekend started, you're going to need your nutrients. We've found four locally-run restaurants that deliver delicious deals on lunch carry out. And they all happen to conveniently be on Vine Street too. We promise it wasn't planned that way. Check out what Total Juice Plus, Mythos on the Square, Sunni Deli, and Fred and Gari's have to offer to satisfy your mid-day desires here.


2. Relive Your Teen Years:
The controversial Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening is playing this weekend right here in the Tri-State at the Aronoff. The off-kilter show about teen sexuality, suicide and violence runs for two weeks until Jan. 24, but why not check it out first so you can ruin it for all of your friends. Or just tell them how good it is, it's up to you. Find showtimes, buy tickets and read a review of this Broadway shaking musical here.

3. Party With An African Village:
The Cincinnati Museum Center is celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with its 25th African Culture Fest. The free, three-day party starts Saturday and runs through MLK Day. Professional dance troupes, poetry, music, a marketplace and a fashion show will highlight the free celebration. Check out times and details here. Did we mention it was free?

4. Drink. Locally, That Is:
We know you don't travel elsewhere to drink on the weekends, we mean drink locally brewed beer! Arnold's Bar and Grill is hosting a Cincy Beer Showcase Saturday that highlights local brewery Christian Moerlein. Everything from OTR-Ale to the classy Hudy 14-K will be on tap (figure of speech, they might come in bottles). The drinks will be coupled by Cincy-centric Americana music all night long. Get details here. Get cab information here.

5. Sing Like A Girl:
The York Street Cafe is hosting an all-female ensemble of entertainers Friday and Saturday to benefit breast cancer research. A variety of musical styles will perform on stage and an art exhibit detailing one woman's struggle with breast cancer will be on display. Check out times and details here.

6. Be Thankful The World Is Not Ending...
Head to the box office of your local movie theater and catch two entertaining new movies with blockbuster budgets. Denzel Washington stars in his new sci-fi flick The Book of Eli. We could have named this event "See A Movie," but what's the fun in that? Denzel stars as a loner with a bible who is chased down by a criminal kingpin through a post-apocalyptic world. Check out details and a review of the new movie here.

And That Your Kids Are Safe:
If you're not into post-nuclear landscapes, The Lovely Bones starring Mark Whalberg tells a unique story of the murder of a little girl in a supposed friendly neighborhood. Again, we could have included this under the "See A Movie" category, but this is honestly how this movie will make you feel. The story tells the tale of a murdered 14-year-old girl who is stuck in a sort of limbo/purgatory narrating her parents' search for her killer. Check out a full review and details here.

7. Laugh At Politics:
If you're tired of heated debates and serious news coverage, take a laugh break at Go Bananas Comedy Club this weekend to see Comedian Jimmy Dore. Dore describes his set as "current eventsy" and his show focuses on poking fun at hot-button issues like gay marriage, medical marijuana, the bailout and health care. Dore will be cracking jokes until Sunday at the Cincinnati comedy club. Read an interview with Dore and get details on his performance here.

8. Jam Out With Singles:
Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles are a band coming to the Southgate House on Friday night, not people looking for love, sorry guys. They are, however, a good band here in the Tri-State for the first time since the MidPoint Music Festival. The young group has been on the rise since 2004 and loved the unpredictable fans in Cincinnati the last time they visited. So rabid fans, go forth, and keep our reputation in tact! Check out venue details and a full background check on the band here.

9. Broomball?
No, not sweeping up your kitchen floor, an all-mascot, ice rink, hard-hitting game of broomball. Alright, maybe not hard-hitting since those mascots have all that padding, but it will be fun. This compilation of soccer and hockey has its own local league and this weekend they will be featured on Fountain Square's ice rink along with some local mascots. Don't worry, drinks will be served too. Come watch the fun at 1 p.m. Saturday and get more details here.

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Indians caravan stopping in Columbus Jan. 26 - Columbus Business Journal

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 11:14 AM PST

The Cleveland Indians' annual press tour will take the team to Columbus this month for an event set to benefit the cancer research fund started by the late Stefanie Spielman.

The Indians' tour runs from Jan. 26-28 and consists of three buses visiting sites in Ohio and Pennsylvania with players, Manager Manny Acta, coaching staff and broadcasters.

The team's Lou Doby bus is arriving at the Gameworks at Easton Town Center Jan. 26 for a press conference at 4:30 p.m. with the main event set for 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 and available only at the door, the team said. For details on scheduled appearances along with other stops and dates, click here http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/cle/fan_forum/presstour.jsp.

The charity set to benefit from proceeds is the Stefanie Spielman Fund at the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. Spielman, wife of former National Football League and Ohio State University star Chris Spielman, died in November at the age of 42 following a years-long battle with breast cancer.

The regular season for the Indians, the parent club of the AAA Columbus Clippers, begins April 5 against the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field.

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