My new opinion piece is posted

“When CPAC Libertarians Quote Reagan, I'm 80 Percent Suspicious,” The Patriot Post (Chattanooga, Tennessee), February 21, 2011. Read more.

Our public hospital shame

Welcome to socialism:

A PREGNANT woman was made to wait nearly two hours at a Melbourne hospital emergency department before she miscarried her baby in a toilet.

Fancy some meat?

Try the Dead Hippy burger.

Erick Erickson has had enough PC

Headline over at Red State (an influential conservative site):

This Is Too Much For Me

All is revealed:

I have, for me, shown an amazing amount of restraint in keeping my mouth shut on an issue about which I can stay silent no longer — GOProud and CPAC.

Issues are addressed:

In fact, let me now fully disabuse you of the notion that GOProud is a conservative organization.

While Cleta Mitchell was fighting for children, Chris Barron was signing up to work for the champions of child killing.

While Cleta Mitchell was fighting for people’s right to work, GOProud was aligning itself with the AFL-CIO and the SEIU.

While Cleta Mitchell was helping the Senate Conservatives Fund get people like Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and others elected, GOProud was attacking Jim DeMint.

While Cleta Mitchell was in super secret meetings of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy this week, GOProud was attacking Tim Pawlenty for daring to defend conservative positions on don’t ask-don’t tell.

Case closed. Erick Erickson wins.

On gun control and emotionalism

 Turning to the cold facts (John Lott is in fine form):

Supporters blame those gun ban failures on the ease of getting guns in the rest of the country. They claim that unless the ban covers the entire country, it isn't a fair test of how well a ban will work. Still, that doesn't explain why gun bans actually increase, rather than decrease, murder rates. As I demonstrate in my third edition of "More Guns, Less Crime," even in island nations such as Ireland, the U.K. and Jamaica -- with easily defendable borders -- gun bans have failed to stop drug gangs from obtaining both drugs and guns (see the figures here). In Australia, murder rates were flat after many types of guns were banned in 1996.

Fortunately, polls indicate that voters have become more educated about the problems surrounding these knee-jerk, quick-fix solutions. A new Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll found that a slim 9 percent believe the Tucson shootings could be blamed on lenient gun control laws.

Power bills up, accountability down

Welcome to Labor's NSW:

Power bills are set to rise by 25 per cent this year - twice as fast as forecast.  The likely doubling is because households will pick up the tab for government green programs - meaning average electricity users face finding an extra $320 to $440.

Poor Liberal grandparents will face a cold winter.

A dam a day keeps starvation away

A dam a day keeps starvation away (at least that’s what the Chinese have figured out).

And speaking of which, this brings me to the headline of the month:  

Let’s get over our dam phobia

Thank you Andrew Robb.

Pastor Rick Warren is so Hollywood

Headline and subheadline:

Rick Warren hosts 'cult' celebrity docs

Features promoters of Eastern mysticism, universalism

Not that there’s anything wrong with that in Saddlebackland:

Vowing to lose 90 pounds, Warren said he placed himself under the care of Drs. Mehmet Oz, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman last fall and worked with each to develop "The Daniel Plan."

Oz, host of the Emmy-winning "Dr. Oz Show" and professor of surgery at Columbia University, says he is inspired by Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th century cult founder who taught that all religions lead to God and denied orthodox Christian beliefs such at the atonement of Christ for sin, the trinity and the deity of the Holy Spirit.

One word: Weird.

Time to question Portugal’s drug culture

So Portugal went soft on drugs and now life is honk dory. Or at least that’s the propaganda spouted by drug-first libertarians and harm minimization socialists. The other side of the story:

Studies show Portugal is a classic example of what not to do. Drug-induced deaths in Portugal climbed to 314 in 2007 - significantly more than the 280 deaths recorded when decriminalization started in 2001. While heroin accounts for most overdose deaths, consumption rates for amphetamines and cocaine doubled. Cocaine seizures increased sevenfold between 2001 and 2006, making Portugal's cocaine-seizure rate the sixth-highest in the world.

The claim that HIV cases have dropped couldn't be further from the truth. Portugal remains the country with the highest incidence of intravenous drug-related AIDS, and it is the only country recording a recent increase. The number of new cases of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C in Portugal recorded among drug users is eight times the average found in other member states of the European Union.

The politics of New Year’s resolutions

Only 41% say they will make personal pledges   

Are Americans big fans of New Year’s resolutions? One nationwide survey of 1,022 adults provides a glimpse. Last month, the Barna Group found that: “Nearly two-thirds of the nation’s population (61%) has made New Year’s resolutions at some point in their lives. More than 90 million adults (41%) say they will make such personal pledges in 2011, representing roughly two-fifths of the nation’s population.” And call me ignorant but how many illegal immigrants participate in American surveys? Now that would make an interesting report. Details please.   

Sticking to your New Year’s resolutions is a challenge

I’ve found that a good New Year’s resolution is motivating. For others though the experience is negative. According to one BBC report, only 10% of people stick to their goals, and psychologist Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire too says that many fail in the first week. Some encouraging news though: If you treat your pledges like a series of steps, and reward yourself along the way, then you’re more likely to succeed.  Perhaps the fear of failure also motivated successful participants who shared their New Year’s resolutions with friends/family. 

Getting healthy is a top priority

One of my New Year’s resolutions is health-related. I’m not alone. Steve Vernon of moneywatch.com states: “According to a recent poll taken by the Society of Actuaries, about 80 percent of respondents said that taking care of their health was their top strategy for managing their medical bills, well ahead of buying medical insurance.”  He advises:  “Take just a few steps in January to establish good nutrition habits, and you’ll be well on your way to improving your health and increasing your lifespan.” (In America, it will take energy to escape Obama-approved death panels.)   

2011 doesn’t look like a green year

Returning to the Barna Group survey, we see that Americans aren’t as green as Hollywood’s jetsetters. Really: “When it comes to the types of resolutions people make, Americans not surprisingly focus on self-oriented changes. Among those planning to make resolutions, the top pledges for 2011 relate to weight, diet and health (30%); money, debt and finances (15%); personal improvement (13%); addiction (12%); job and career (5%); spiritual or church-related (5%); and educational (4%).” David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group noted, “virtually none of the survey respondents mentioned anything about becoming more green.”