Bouncing Hedgehog

Archive for the ‘In The News’ Category

I am always interested in reading through the comments that accompany many articles published by newspapers online. It’s always a good indicator of just how fucked up society in the US is. But, immune as I am to some of the crass points of view that get put forward, even I did a double take when I saw that someone was calling for a civil war in the US.

WTF? I thought to myself. He must be out of his tiny little less than average IQ mind. Apparently he wasn’t alone. Many posters were agreeing with him. The mind (well, mine at least) boggles that anyone in this day and age thinks that a civil war is the answer to America’s problems. I would hazard a guess that most, if not all, of these gung ho wankers have never actively been involved in any war let alone a civil war.

Ask anyone, anywhere in the world, who has been involved in a civil war whether they thought it was great idea that cured their county’s problems and I very much doubt you will get an affirmative answer.

Stupid doesn’t even begin to cover this one. This really is a case of danger in the gene pool.

Just what the hell is this country coming to?

Like many people back in December we got hit by a snowstorm which (at least in Clendenin, West Virginia) practically sent us back to the stone age. Just before midnight on Friday December 18 the cable went out. No biggie – the TV schedule sucked anyway. Within the hour the power and the phone followed suit. And that’s where the real fun began.

Fortunately for us we have a log fire and a reasonable supply of logs which meant that we weren’t totally without heat. It wasn’t great – we could get the den up to about 62F – but it was certainly better than the rest of the house which very quickly dropped to 40F. We always have food and water on hand for emergencies and thanks to a camping gas stove we could at least cook after a fashion.

We also have a small radio (also for emergencies) and so we tuned in to try and find out what was happening. There’s half a dozen local stations so we didn’t think that would be too hard. Boy, were we ever wrong. What we needed to know were details of the power outages (and what steps were being taken to repair the downed lines) and whether our area had even been reported as out and of course what Verizon were up to as regards downed phone lines. With the phone out we couldn’t report the power out. Cellphone coverage where we live (a whole 25 miles from the state capital) is non-existent. Read the rest of this entry »

There have been many programs on TV over the years that have dealt with accident victims who have fallen into a coma and have subsequently been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state. Some of these programs have been fictional, some have been factual.

I have always been somewhat pertubed by the willingness of some to “end their suffering” as there’s “no hope of recovery.” I wonder just whose suffering is actually being referred to. I am even more perturbed when organ harvesting is being touted by the doctors. 

I was surprised this morning to read about the case of a Belgian man – Ron Houben – who spent 23 years in a so-called persistent vegetative state after having been paralysed in a car crash in 1983. Apparently he was aware of everything going on around him the whole time. Can you imagine that? The frustration? The pain? Being aware and not being able to communicate? Read the rest of this entry »

I was interested to read on Reuters (a source of real news unlike what passes for news in the US) the results of an eight year study that compared workers’ benefits around the world. The fifteen most competitive countries in the world over the last decade (as ranked by the World Economic Forum) are Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and the United States.

Out of those 15, 14 mandate paid sick leave, 13 guarantee paid maternal leave, and 12 provide paid paternal leave. And these rights are guaranteed by law. A further 11 also provide paid leave to care for sick children and 8 provide paid leave to care for adult family members.

Looking at slightly less competitive countries the report found that out of 190 countries, 163 guaranteed paid sick leave and 164 guarantee paid annual leave. 177 guaranteed paid maternal leave and 74 guaranteed paid paternal leave. 157 countries guarantee workers a day of rest each week. Read the rest of this entry »

My first thought was: God does exist.

My second thought was: Do I trust a politician to tell the truth?

Bugger! 2012 is going to be a bitch.

A headline caught my eye today about the FDA. Apparently they are targeting companies that market energy drinks that combine alcohol and caffeine and have given companies that market them 30 days to prove they are safe.

Per the FDA’s press release:

“Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, a substance added intentionally to food (such as caffeine in alcoholic beverages) is deemed “unsafe” and is unlawful unless its particular use has been approved by FDA regulation, the substance is subject to a prior sanction, or the substance is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS).”

Now personally I wouldn’t buy any of these energy drinks. I don’t need them and I doubt you do either.

The FDA obviously has our best interests at heart. Doesn’t it make you feel safer to know they’re being so vigilant on our behalf?

It’s just a thought but don’t you think they’d be better off (and we’d be safer) targeting stuff that lists such side effects as lymphoma and death and getting the companies that market them to prove that they are safe instead?

It still saddens me that a country as modern as the USA practices state sanctioned killings as a solution to crime – in other words the death penalty. It doesn’t work as a deterrent – the US has more people incarcerated as a percentage of its population than any other country in the world. By no stretch of the imagination can this practice be called civilized so why continue it? For a supposedly God fearing country to go so directly against the “thou shalt not kill” commandment is the height of hypocrisy. In fact the US is the only modern western country that still practices killing people. China, and Japan still like doing it too. But who else? For “ordinary” crimes you have:

1.Afghanistan
2.Antigua/Barbuda
3.Bahamas
4.Bahrain
5.Bangladesh
6.Barbados
7.Belarus
8.Belize
9.Botswana
10.Burundi Read the rest of this entry »

I saw a news story today and promptly did a double take. Apparently US President Barack Obama will be going before the UN General Assembly and telling them that the United States cannot solve all the problems of the global community by itself.

He will also be telling leaders who apparently weren’t too happy with America acting unilaterally in the world that it is time for a true global response to global challenges including climate change, terrorism, endless conflicts and poverty.

Right…

“Climate change.” Good one! What about the Kyoto protocol? Still unratified (and hence non-binding on the US – or in other words America doesn’t have to do squat about greenhouse emissions – we don’t want to interfere with profits now, do we?) despite having been signed by the US. Talk about lip service and not meeting your responsibilities. Read the rest of this entry »

It takes quite a lot to actually piss me off but the current debate on universal health care and the large percentage of scaremongers claiming it doesn’t work in the UK (one of their “facts” for maintaining huge profits for the insurance companies and the health care system) has finally managed to get me there.

The number of so-called experts (almost everyone I meet apparently) who feel qualified to pass judgment is quite staggering. Which is really quite strange as not many Americans as a percentage of the population have ever actually been there and of those who have I wonder just how many of them had to use our medical services. Funnily enough 65% of Americans can’t even find the UK on world map. Actually if you think that’s bad 20% of Americans can’t even find America on a world map.

As I said the number of lies spouted as fact has finally pissed me off. American health care sucks in comparison. And yes I do have knowledge of the system here. And in the UK of course, and also Canada, Iceland and New Zealand. 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 »