Bouncing Hedgehog

Archive for August, 2009

Last weekend I went to an estate auction. Nothing really unusual there for me as I go to around ten a year at a local very well run auction house here in West Virginia (Mountaineer Auctions at Clendenin for anyone who is interested). What was unusual was that this was an auction at the estate itself. The first I had been to of this type. They were selling the house as well that day so it obviously made sense. Especially as the contents of the estate were not huge and probably not worth carting off to the auction rooms themselves.

The auctions I had previously attended at the auction house were usually quite big affairs. Probably an average of four to five hundred people attending. This was on a much smaller scale. I’d say there were no more than sixty people there at most. The items up for auction were pretty much what you’d expect with most estates. With one exception. Read the rest of this entry »

I was interested to see recently that the CDC proudly trumpeted “Life Expectancy Rises to New High of 75.3 for Men and 80.4 for Women” which works out at an average “all-time high” of 77.85. Interestingly enough the CIA’s website shows the average male/female life expectancy as 78.11. I’m not sure where they got that figure from, do they know something the CDC doesn’t?

I guess this is good news if you’re American. Many other countries wouldn’t be so happy if their life expectancy suddenly dropped to that level.

I was also somewhat perturbed at the naivite and lack of world knowledge of some Americans in the blog that followed the article when such comments as…

Well, it’s probably because the U.S. has the best health care in the world? I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

… appeared. Yes… Of Course America has the best health profit system in the world. Oh, and while I’m at it that hoary old chestnut about America subsidizing the rest of the world also surfaced. Ye gods. I really can’t believe that anyone here still falls for that one as the reason for the highest medical costs in the world. That particular little factoid has been debunked so many times it’s beyond a joke.

Anyway, for all my American friends here is a league table of the top 50 countries life expectancy rates. So before you get too excited at the extra time you now have, take a look and see where you rank. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems the lipsticked one – Sarah Palin – is at it again with her claims of “Death Panels.” Well… this is old news isn’t it? Don’t insurance companies already fulfil that role?

Frankly I’m not prepared to waste my time on this fine example of brain power, suffice to say…

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you’re a fool, rather than open it and prove it.

This is all about money and profit. Not health care. $1.5 million per day to speak out against the “evils” of universal health care says it all. Is America really dumb enough to fall for this baloney again?

You have to laugh. You do. Really. The alternative is crying. Trina Thompson a graduate of Monroe College in the Bronx is apparently sueing her former college because she couldn’t get a job. “They have not tried hard enough to help me,” she wails in her lawsuit.

Poor little sausage. Finding a job by herself is obviously all too much for her. Welcome to the real world Trina. Perhaps anyone who has ever had an education could also sue if they can’t find a job. After all… God forbid that anyone anywhere should ever have to take responsibility for their own life. Whatever next?

I am all for colleges helping their students try to get a job, but to hold the college responsible when the student can’t find one they like? Give me a break. Read the rest of this entry »