Friday Morning Video: Wesley Willis, "I'm sorry that I got fat"

Rock over London, Rock on Chicago.
Long John Silver's; Throwing Boring Overboard.

Cancer Survival Odds: Government Health Care Sucks

The Net Right Nation blog reports on "Cancer Survival Rates With Government-Run Care". Excerpt:

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month has just ended, so it is timely to bring to mind the innovation and capability of the American doctors and researchers who have made America’s prostate cancer survival rates the highest in the world. Americans’ five-year survival rate is 91.0%. It beats out the Canadian survival rate of 85.1%, trounces Europe’s 57.1%, and obliterates England’s 50.9%. As Democrats in Congress seek to make America’s health care more like the government-run bureaucracies in these other countries, I cannot help but fear that our survival rates will decline.

Here's a chart from the article.

Pre-order Sarah Palin's Book

Here.

You know, it must be nice when you're getting your picture taken to be able to said to yourself confidently "This is going to look great."

Also... here's a must-read on Sarah Palin's bankability. Also wins title of the week: Palin: ‘Keep on honking; I’m reloading’. Have to quote this part:

Palin is a bigger ratings magnet now than before she resigned. Look at the various political websites. Whether it is to ridicule, revile, or admire her, no major outlet is without its attempted coverage of her.

She has successfully banned the main stream media from her events and pushes past them with tweets, Twitter and Facebook entries. Who can forget the “death panel” phrase that knee-capped the current health care bills? Talk about a reduced carbon footprint.

Gotta love it.

NYT Opinion on that Polanski dude screwing a 13-year-old girl

The "smart set" weighs in. Geraldine Ferraro has the best and most coherent piece, and it is the only one worth excerpting:

Notice [the definition of statutory rape] doesn’t talk about force and it doesn’t talk about consent. Neither are needed. The statute is meant to protect children. A 13-year-old can’t consent to intercourse with a man over 18, and certainly not with a man in his 30’s.

Polanski was convicted of a serious crime in the 70’s. He chose to abscond to France and because he had money and connections, has lived a charmed life, unhindered by his obligations to society. The message is, rich guys can get away with anything … or wait — is it only rich guys with friends in Hollywood? The statute of limitations for rape does not toll simply because 31 years has passed. And victims cannot “forgive” the rapist. The criminal justice system is meant to protect all of us.

As for France getting all exercised about California moving forward (and the prosecutors there haven’t just let this go for 31 years), who are the French officials to criticize us as a nation and tell us how to deal with our criminals? Too bad for Bernie Madoff that he wasn’t as smart as Polanski. He would have taken his wife, brother, nephew, sons and their families and a billion or two and gone to France to help their economy. Then when the Ponzi scheme was exposed, the French would have, if consistent, refused extradition. He could have stayed for the rest of his life in luxury. Just imagine.

At first Ferraro was the only woman on the page expressing an opinion. Then about an hour ago a history prof named Judith Surkis wrote something boring about the context of what she terms "Affaire Polanski" within French history... (yawn) So the fact that Ferraro was the most direct and to the point might also be related to her being a lawyer and this is first and foremost about a law being broken.

The stupidest remarks come from Lost Executive Producer, Damon Lindelof who ends his opinion with a non sequitur about how much Woody Allen's Annie Hall rocked. I guess he is being loyal to the tradition of his serial television masterwork by insisting on going back 32 years to explain current events. Or something.

The whole thing may be somewhat related to this; you be the judge and jury.

Bill Donohue Exposes Michael Moore's Inconsistency

You need a pretty sharp implement to cut through the blubber of Film Industrialist Michael Moore. Bill Donohue's incisive writing does the trick.

Capitalism has been kind to Moore. He lives in a waterfront mansion with a private beach, one that is so lily-white that not a single black person lives there. This is not by accident. Though he exclaimed in his film “Stupid White Men” that he plans to “hire only black people,” author Peter Schweizer found that of the 134 producers, editors, cinematographers, composers and production coordinators that Moore hired, only three were black.

Moore says it is anti-Christian not to divide the pie fairly. So what would that make him? Oh, yes, he does contribute to soup kitchens. Too bad he doesn’t actually employ the poor—then he could shelve the Campbell’s. In 2002, his charitable donations amounted to $36,000. Sounds like a lot until we learn that he made eight figures that year. One more thing: he ran his donations through his private foundation, a capitalist-created scheme designed to protect fat cats from paying their fair share of taxes.

The next time a social justice Christian brags about his commitment to the poor, ask him to open his own books. Transparency is so beautiful.

For a little review on the famed business magnate's portfolio, here's something from the Newsmax archive courtesy of Peter Schweizer which showcase Moore's investments in big oil, big pharma and big defense contracting.

Mike Huckabee's Petition

I'm not the biggest Huckabee fan out there, but I did sign his Balance, Cut, Save petition. It's short for "Balance the Budget, Cut Taxes, Save American families"—and I'm all for those three simple concepts, none of which the current White House administration appears to possess any kind of grasp.

John Stossel: "Grateful for small favors"

Here's John Stossel explaining what a joke it is for the Obama Administration to claim their so-called economic stimulus spending and recovery plans have done anything demonstrably positive. His concluding paragraphs:

As I wrote in February: "Given time, the economy, unless totally crippled by government intervention, will regenerate itself. That's because an economy is not a machine that needs jumpstarting. It is people who have objectives they want to achieve. They will not sit on their hands forever waiting for government to 'fix' things. Instead, they work to overcome obstacles to get what they want. Some banks are struggling, but there are still people who want to lend money and people who want to borrow it. They will find each other without government help".

But I underestimated this administration. I expected it to say, in the face of continued rising unemployment, that the "stimulus" wasn't big enough. Instead, it claims success.

I suppose I should be relieved. Claiming success is far less destructive than another irresponsible "stimulus." I'm grateful for small favors.

He absolutely right; the reality which the phrase "the economy" describes is something which can't be reduced to static machinery. It's an aggregate of the many individual decisions and actions made by people. Reminds me of the great line by Bruce Willis in the latest Die Hard movie, "It's not a system, it's a country!"

"Put your pride on the shelf"

Oh, boy, can't wait until 2014 when the Gay Games come to Cleveland.

Mayor Frank Jackson said the city "is prepared to roll out the welcome mat to the LGBT athletes, their families and spectators from around the world. Fans of the Gay Games will find that Cleveland is a great place to celebrate sports and culture and that we have tremendous assets and amenities for them to enjoy. The sports and cultural environment here is truly a uniquely Cleveland experience, one they will cherish for years to come."

Cleveland’s 2014 Gay Games IX Sports & Cultural Festival is set for Aug. 9 through Aug. 16, 2014. It will include 30 sports, four cultural events, opening and closing ceremonies and cultural events.

Maybe we'll leave for vacation during that week. If so I have to remember as we roll down I-80 to instruct my wife not to look in the rearview mirror lest she be turned into a pillar of salt.