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Wednesday, July 15. 2015

Taxpayers Spend $3.5 Million to Find Out Why Lesbians Are Fat

The Secret to Well-Behaved Kids: You Have to Out-Stubborn Them

Insurance Only Covers Generic Heart Transplant

A Better Way To Protect the Earth: Privatize Environmentalism

Riding an UberBOAT Across the Bosphorous - Uber's new Asia-to-Europe service is quite expensive. It's also pretty cool.

Americans Hate Fruits and Vegetables

Since when are they so "healthy"? Eskimos don't eat them.

Milk is regarded, along with bread, as one of the staples of the Western diet, but that’s only a very recent
phenomenon.

Milk is for kids

Do you want your company, your political cause, your best clients or just somebody you love to be noticed? Look no further.

Take note, Hillary!

Chart of the greatest and most remarkable achievement in human history, thanks to free market capitalism

Take note, Pope

I Spent Thousands to Keep My Sick Cat Alive. I Don’t Think I’d Do It Again.

Anti-Porn Summit on Capitol Hill Mixes Moralist, Feminist, and Public Health Rhetoric With Insane Results

Video Catches Planned Parenthood’s Top Doctor Selling Body Parts of Aborted Babies

Study Says Frame Global Warming As ‘Public Health’ Issue

Re-branding won't work. Last year, they tried calling it a national security emergency.

Obama’s Secretary of Education is a Cheerleader for Common Core Except for His Kids

Typical

Well, Duh — ‘Trump Is No Conservative’ - But a good battering ram is exactly what the political process needs right now.

Hillary Clinton’s Uber Speech Belongs in 1930s America:

Economically, the Clinton-Sanders-Warren-O’Malley project is stuck squarely in 1938. Theirs is a country in which tax rates can be set without reference to global competition; in which the taxi commission and the trade union are the heroes while the entrepreneurs and the dissenters are a royal pain in the ass; in which families can simply not be trusted to determine which services suit their needs and which do not. It’s a country in which our heinously outdated, grossly illiberal, neo-Prussian educational system is to be set more firmly in place — even as it crumbles and falls. It is a country in which the state must determine which firms are Good and which firms are Bad, and reward or punish them according to its whim. It is a country in which Upton Sinclair is an up-and-coming writer, and in which anybody who doubts the efficacy of federal control is in danger of falling headfirst into a rendering vat.

He mentions Sinclair. As we now know, his books were pure fiction

Hillary Clinton is a General Motors candidate in an Uber world

Trump: Hillary Clinton ‘Desperate,’ ‘Sad,’ ‘Obviously Very Nervous’

Socialism, RIP - Tottering European economies prove again the Keynesian model is a failure

The Euro—A Fatal Conceit

Is Obama Moving Too Fast with Vietnam?

Nam is no longer of interest to people

Iran nuclear deal much worse than experts predicted

Below via Theo

Posted by Bird Dog in Hot News & Misc. Short Subjects at 04:47 | Comments (37) | Trackbacks (0)

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>Taxpayers Spend $3.5 Million to Find Out Why Lesbians Are Fat

The "study" probably cost 500,000. 3M in someone's pocket for being a buddy of the "right" people.

>Americans Hate Fruits and Vegetables

gee, maybe the CDC could spend some time on actual diseases. Like the ones that were mostly eradicated and now resurfacing for some reason.
Rather than nanny stating over what we eat. Which is bullcrap anyway. You can't gauge how many fruits and vegs are consumed when many people grow their own. My kids eat more vegs than I do. More people than ever are growing gardens.

>Milk is regarded, along with bread, as one of the staples of the Western diet, but that’s only a very recent
phenomenon.

Here we go again. Another attempt to destroy the farming industry.
Milk contains saturated fats and protein which make you feel full in a way that drinking water, fruit juice (pure sugar) and energy drinks don't. And soda is out to kill you. Likely the reason why there are so many intestinal disorders is because drinking soda is basically drinking battery acid, kills all your intestinal bacteria.

My kids all drank raw milk until we quit dairying,and they survived. They are also never sick, are not fat and enjoy milk as long as it's cold (although store bought milk is not as good).
You can't eat oreos or any cookie for that matter without milk.
Mr Fjord drinks gallons of milk a week and doesn't get kidney stones like so many men do. we drink it because we like it, why do these things have to be discussed ad nauseum?

>Video Catches Planned Parenthood’s Top Doctor Selling Body Parts of Aborted Babies

and nothing will be done about it. until He addresses it.

#1 fjord on 2015-07-15 07:09 (Reply)

Hillary Clinton is a General Motors candidate in an Uber world

Then that would make Sanders? Hillary to her credit at least gave Obama the only challenge of his political career

#2 grey enlightenment (Link) on 2015-07-15 07:42 (Reply)

Sanders is a horse and buggy.

Interesting that Sanders compared US incarceration rates to China, pointing out that ours is so much higher. He, of course, blithely ignored the point that China executes the largest number of 'criminals' of any nation. In fact, I believe their execution rate is larger than the sum of all other nations. Were those people in jail, the US wouldn't even be close...

Sanders, in his pursuit of the Socialist ideal, will pass many new laws that will create many new 'criminals'. I wonder how he will plan to deal with these 'criminals'?

Sanders doesn't like the fact that a free market allows so much choice. He doesn't think we really need all this choice, that it just makes life confusing. I suppose when he chooses what we need, we'll all love him for it.

All that is horse and buggy mentality. Sanders is a sad, deluded, old man.

#2.1 Bulldog on 2015-07-15 09:18 (Reply)

Yabut he's having the time of his life as it draws to a close. I've always considered him harmless, and hope his good time continues to the end.

#2.1.1 BillH on 2015-07-15 09:45 (Reply)

People like him are always harmless until they convince enough people that their ideas are sound. Then they become harmful.

I'm not saying we should stop him, censor him, or anything to prevent him from doing what he's doing. If people are stupid enough to ignore history and ignore his misrepresentation of facts...let them. Just don't try to make me live under his laws.

#2.1.1.1 Bulldog on 2015-07-15 09:51 (Reply)

Why are lesbians fat? The answer should be plain ifrom the statistics quoted:

Men (for evolutionarliy explainable reasons) pay much more attention to physique of partners than women do. Hence straight women and gay men feel a pressure to maintain a body image that lesbians and gay men do not.

Not rocket science, folks.

#3 jay on 2015-07-15 08:34 (Reply)

Oops typo. last line should read "lesbians and straight men..."

#3.1 jay on 2015-07-15 09:08 (Reply)

Yes, and it's my observation that the more "matey" in build and weight a lesbian is, the more likely she's the "male" member of the couple.

#3.1.1 JJM on 2015-07-15 09:57 (Reply)

Reminds me of the joke, "What's the difference between a bull dyke and an elephant? About 20 lbs and a plaid shirt."

#3.2 shirley on 2015-07-15 12:54 (Reply)

You say "Nam is no longer of interest to people"
Does that mean that oppression and persecution of tens of millions of people is no longer of interest to them, or to the many millions elsewhere who care about it are not people? !
That attitude is what allows horrible thugs in power to horribly and viciously harm and repress others. ISIS, for example, must be glad to know that attitude exists among so many Westerners who think they are immune to it happening to them, until it is too late.

#4 Bruce Kesler on 2015-07-15 08:40 (Reply)

Like others here, I wore the uniform during our misadventure in VN. We erred, should never have gotten involved, it had not National Security implications for us. And we lost 50,000+, and killed God knows how many Vietnamese, in a war that we were never going to win.

I am all for normalizing relations and building a strong relationship with VN. I have never met any GI that was in combat in VN and has went back to VN that was not deeply impressed by how friendly the VN were, they did not hold the war against the guys.

As to Communist, why does that matter? We deal with China a fair amount and they damn sure are not our friend or ally, and I am pretty sure they have kill many tens of millions of people, mostly their own. We deal with many countries that are terrible countries based on our values (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, Russia, Balkans, ....). We are not, or should not pretend to be, the worlds Boy Scout.

Who is VN oppressing? Their country seems to be doing great. Are they "America lite" as so many hawks wanted? No, but it never was going to be. They are Vietnam and only wanted foreign countries to stay out of their civil war.

Comparing the Vietnamese to ISIS is specious.

I hate for the Boy-King to be the one to develop a relationship with VN as he does NOT have America's best interest at heart.

#4.1 ron snyder on 2015-07-15 20:30 (Reply)

Americans Hate Fruits and Vegetables

We don't.

Since when are they so "healthy"? Eskimos don't eat them.

Since when are Eskimos so healthy?

#5 DrTorch on 2015-07-15 08:59 (Reply)

Hannoy Hillary

Don't you folks remember? The first, very first, thing Billary did when they were no longer encumbered with the oval office was to hustle their fat asses to Viet Nam (as private entrepreneurs). Viet Nam occupies a very important location in the world's drug economy--you may remember the golden triangle? I still remember their first public picture together after holding office. They were both wearing those shirts with mandarin collars and looking very Namish while shaking hands with a big deal developer over there!

#6 faculty wife on 2015-07-15 09:25 (Reply)

"I Spent Thousands to Keep My Sick Cat Alive. I Don’t Think I’d Do It Again."

Well, we did not spend anything like thousands but we spent a goodly amount regardless on our dear late canine friend in his day.

And it was during an emergency visit to the vet in his old age that I suddenly realized the blindingly obvious: these days, our pets probably get better, more responsive and personalized medical attention than we do.

The reason?

The health insurance plan card for a pet is the owner's VISA card.

#7 JJM on 2015-07-15 09:49 (Reply)

We often pay closer attention to our pets' health than our own.

While I am careful about myself, my wife rarely visits the doctor because "they always find something." Of course, because she only goes when she HAS something that has gotten bad enough to warrant attention.

Recently, I've gotten her to start at least seeing the doctor once a year, and surprisingly they haven't found ANYTHING. Meanwhile, she has joined me at the gym.

Concurrent to all this, our dog went through a 4 week period where we visited the vet once or twice a week (after never having so much as a sniffle for 6 years). First it was this issue, then another, then a third... Every little bump or lump got attention.
Turns out there was nothing major, but three in-office procedures later, and she's been clean for over a year. But then again, she is 8 years old and now we have to pay attention to things. This is when they start to slow down.

Of course, when the time comes to make decisions about spending vs. less desirable options - age and general health will play a role. I had friends who had a dog that suffered seizures in its old age. They spent a fortune on medication on vet visits for 3 years. The dog wasn't living a very good life. Several times a day collapsing and seizing, not eating regularly, eventually messing in the house, unable to climb stairs, etc. For 3 years this went on. Unnecessary and unfair to the dog, in my opinion. But these are choices we have to make. Is the love of the companionship greater than the money?

I miss my last dog. But giving her the shot, rather than spending a fortune on cancer treatments which had no clear outcome for an 11 year old dog was the humane solution.

For what it's worth, I eschew "pet insurance." No idea who came up with that marketing scam.

#7.1 Bulldog on 2015-07-15 10:02 (Reply)

We had our old fellow put down at the age of 15. In the end, he was just plain worn out, having beat considerable canine actuarial odds to get to the age he did.

Those were 15 great years filled to the brim with fun - half of which he spent in the UK. He was a great "pub dog"!

And regarding pet insurance: agreed.

#7.1.1 JJM on 2015-07-15 10:25 (Reply)

Ahh...pub dogs. Yes, that's something I remember well.

#7.1.1.1 Bulldog on 2015-07-15 14:17 (Reply)

"Obama’s Secretary of Education is a Cheerleader for Common Core Except for His Kids."

It was ever thus. Back when I was at university in Québec, we were sitting around the residence one Friday night drinking beer and eating pizza (as you do) when the outgoing provincial education minister popped up on TV. He was positively effusive about all the achievements of his tenure and the advances in public education he had implemented.

One of my room-mates snorted, "Ha. His kids all went to the same Jesuit-run private college as me."

#8 JJM on 2015-07-15 10:07 (Reply)

This is really old news. To quote from a Walter Williams column (http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2013/10/09/racial-tradeoffs-n1718736/page/full)

QUOTE:

According to a 2004 Thomas B. Fordham Institute study, more than 1 in 5 public school teachers sent their children to private schools. In some cities, the figure is much higher. In Philadelphia, 44 percent of the teachers put their children in private schools; in Cincinnati, it's 41 percent, and Chicago (39 percent) and Rochester, N.Y. (38 percent), also have high figures. In the San Francisco-Oakland area, 34 percent of public school teachers enroll their children in private schools, and in New York City, it's 33 percent.

Only 11 percent of all parents enroll their children in private schools. The fact that so many public school teachers enroll their own children in private schools ought to raise questions. After all, what would you think, after having accepted a dinner invitation, if you discovered that the owner, chef, waiters and busboys at the restaurant to which you were being taken don't eat there? That would suggest they have some inside information from which you might benefit.

#8.1 mudbug on 2015-07-15 10:56 (Reply)

"Americans Hate Fruits and Vegetables"

Americans eat fruits and vegetables but obviously not as much as some people think they should. What is really happening is people have choices, lots of choices. With all those choices Americans choose those things that they like or in some cases those things that fit their needs.

"Milk is regarded, along with bread, as one of the staples of the Western diet, but that’s only a very recent phenomenon."

Milk is an awesome food. The fact that it wasn't consumed in great quantities 100 years ago has more to do with refrigeration and cost. In the past most milk was made into cheese because it keeps without refrigeration. Cheese too is an awesome food. You have to wonder who comes upwith these phony issues.

Too many food pundits lick the frosting and then insult the entire nation with their opinions. Food is just food. There really isn't a "bad" food sold in any of our supermarkets and there really isn't a "good" food either. When digested they are all turned into their basic sugar, fat and protein molecules (and vitamins and minerals too of course) and it doesn't matter if the sugar came from a sweet potato or HFCS.

#9 GoneWithTheWind on 2015-07-15 10:10 (Reply)

I did find it interesting when I read a 1908 book on setting up a creamery that it was a big deal to send the proper quantity of milk back to the dairy after they separated the cream. Also, lots of effort in testing, etc., to ensure a dairy with a bad run of milk or bad hygiene as identified and isolated upon delivery. Even discussion of that new-fangled pasteurization being done in Europe.

BTW, it is the new high temp flash pasteurization that messes up the milk. The lower temp held for 30 or so minutes really doesn't mess up the proteins and just kills the microbes.

#10 JK Brown on 2015-07-15 10:36 (Reply)

Re the Appalachian Trail sign:

Reminded me of a book I read maybe 20 years ago, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. He set out to hike the Appalachian Trail for the purpose of writing the book. It was light, fun reading, and made me want to hike the trail.

http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Woods-Rediscovering-America-Appalachian/dp/0307279464

#11 feeblemind on 2015-07-15 10:50 (Reply)

May I suggest a very recent book about the AT? "Right Here On The Trail" by Dean Fletcher. After reading this one, I have put walking the trail on my to do list for when I retire and all my dogs have passed away.

#11.1 shirley on 2015-07-15 11:09 (Reply)

Andrew Skurka is one of the worlds greatest hikers. He has videos, classes and great stories. Some of them can be seen here: (http://andrewskurka.com). Hope that makes it through the editor. But if it doesn't look him up by name. His hikes are epic, his technique spawned the new word "skurking", a description of his traveling fast and light for long distances.

#11.1.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2015-07-15 17:25 (Reply)

I had about 400 miles of backpacking the AT when I read Bill's book about the AT. What a great author and a wonderful read, especially for anyone that has done any substantial backpacking.

For his books that he reads, they are a great companion on the road.

#11.2 ron snyder on 2015-07-15 20:39 (Reply)

Read Colin Fletcher's "The Man Who Walked Through Time". I read this just before my first hike in the Grand Canyon. I dug it out last year and read it again while at the Grand canyon. We go hiking there at least once a year.

#11.2.1 GoneWithTheWind on 2015-07-16 11:12 (Reply)

His Complete Walker IV is a better book for people that want to learn about gear and hiking/backpacking in general. IMO.

#11.2.1.1 ron snyder on 2015-07-16 14:17 (Reply)

I Spent Thousands to Keep My Sick Cat Alive.

Every time I take my dogs or cats to the small animal vet for their yearly vaccinations, one or multiples of them have "ear infections". Although I clean their ears and never see evidence (scratching, crying) of it. I once had a lab that had a chronic ear infection, so i know what they look like.

My large animal vet on the other hand, coming from a dairy farm background and married to a dairy farmer, will give me cheap, easy alternatives to medications --- and tell me what to do on the phone if I call her with something not life threatening, because she knows I have cows and have vetted problems myself. And she's busy.

My kids have remarked that quite possibly my small animal vet would report me to the "proper authorities" if I refused that $50 ear medication. Thankfully, my large animal vet has gone out on her own and now takes care of my small animals.

And related, 80 yr old Gramma doesn't like going to the doctor and resents the fact that the dr. office calls and harrasses her to make her yearly appts. After she told me that, my doctor's office started doing the same to us. Repeated letters about well child checkups and mammograms. Refusal would be cause to be reported to the authorities, although not implied, I'm prone to believe would happen.
Also, my mother is being harrassed by her doctor to lose weight although she doesn't have any health problems.

#12 fjord on 2015-07-15 12:48 (Reply)

That sign needs an appendage: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. (Be a fool and die.)

#13 Sam L. on 2015-07-15 12:58 (Reply)

Re: Socialism, RIP

We would be lucky if socialism was on the way out, but I'm not that optimistic.

One would think that after the Iron Curtain fell and exposed the folly of state controlled economies that people would see it for what it was.

One would expect that more recent examples of the crime to ordinary people that socialism is, such as Venezuela, socialists would get a clue.

It's not enough that nobody can point to a successful socialistic economy and it never will be. It's just never been properly implemented.

The issue isn't what works, but what gives me, or the people I prefer, power over someone else and look charitable in the process.

#14 mudbug on 2015-07-15 13:20 (Reply)

Re: Fruit and vegetables

We should remember that only recently have fresh fruits and vegetables have been available year round. There were some available via pickling or drying but most people were restricted to root vegetables off season.

Humanity was on the edge of extinction before the discovery of super markets.

#15 Freddie Sykes on 2015-07-15 14:27 (Reply)

Milk is regarded, along with bread, as one of the staples of the Western diet, but that’s only a very recent
phenomenon

Really? It must have become a staple for northern Europeans if they became lactose tolerant 10,000 years ago?

#16 seamus on 2015-07-15 19:03 (Reply)

Eskimos and fruits and vegetables - good grief.

Are you peddling Eskimos as the gold standard for health? Have you seen these people? They wallow in alcoholism and they are fat.

Puh-eeze. Make it stop. It hurts teh brain.

#17 Paul A'Barge on 2015-07-16 03:14 (Reply)

The traditional Eskimo diet did not include alcohol nor many sugars and carbohydrates. I doubt if there were many health studies done upon them prior to these foods being introduced into their diets. All we can say for sure is that modest numbers of hunter gatherers were able to survive in a harsh climate with little access to fruits and vegetables.

The most common disease afflicting most Native North Americans is socialism which tends to lead to alcoholism, obesity and suicide.

#17.1 Freddie Sykes on 2015-07-16 05:18 (Reply)

In some parts of Canada, the Indians are being encouraged to return to a more 'traditional' diet, which is high protein and low carbs. I heard about one experiment on the West Coast, where the diet returned to high in fish and included oolichan grease. The theory is that - while people from Europe, Asia, etc., have to some extent adapted to to a carbohydrate-rich diet - the North American Indian of the plains, west coast, and Arctic has not (the hunter - gatherer societies). Don't know if this has been looked at with other groups of natives, but they all had some agriculture.

On the other hand, a vet I know refers to a high carbs diet as the "feed lot diet" and never did have much time for the food pyramid pushing lots of grains with little protein and less fat.

#17.1.1 Frances on 2015-07-16 10:51 (Reply)

For many centuries, the feed lot diet was all that was available to the majority of Europeans. In feudal times, hunting and fishing were capital offenses. It was only as we became richer that we could afford to raise animals for their meat.

Hunter gathers had a diet much richer in protein, that is when they were not going hungry. The fact remains that the Earth could not support billions of hunter gatherers.

I myself prefer a diet with frequent but small portions of meat, natural fats such as butter, lard and cold pressed oils, whole grains and vegetables mainly of the root variety except in summer. I like my fruits fermented.

#17.1.1.1 Freddie Sykes on 2015-07-16 15:01 (Reply)

When I lived in Alaska I was looking at a house for sale that was rented to natives. They were cooking (or eating raw, I'm not sure) whale blubber. It was not fresh and it was all I could do to keep from gagging. Needless to say I didn't buy that house. But the house I did buy had a eskimo family living down the street. The boys would play outside in tee shirts when it was 20 - 30 below. One of the teen girls used to babysit my kids. They lived with their grandparents because their parents were in jail on alcohol related charges. They ate a traditional diet but mixed with an American diet. The grandparents tried to eat only traditional but the kids would eat anything. Their favorite "treat" was fish eyes plucked right from the raw fish. I had to turn away when they did that.
I read that when European arctic explorers tried to live with the eskimos that they would get sick. Once they were sick the eskimos would feed them native food and bring them back to health. The food that seemed to save them from death was the stomach contents of caribou, seals and walruses. Once the explorers were well enough to fend for themselves they were unable to force themselves to consume this sickly looking mess so they would get sick again and need to be nursed back to health by being spoon feed the greenish glop.

I have also read that eskimos have livers about twice the size of a normal liver. Don't know if this is genetic or the result of eating their diet from birth.

#18 GoneWithTheWind on 2015-07-16 19:52 (Reply)

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Wednesday, July 15. 2015

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