Need Free Health Care? Go To Jail

Verone didn’t want to scare anyone. He executed the robbery the most passive way he knew how. He handed the teller a note demanding one dollar, and medical attention. “I didn’t have any fears,” said Verone. “I told the teller that I would sit over here and wait for police.”

... he has a lot to say on the subject of socialized medical care. He suspects he wouldn’t be talking to a reporter through a metal screen wearing an orange jumpsuit if such an option were available in the U.S.

“If you don’t have your health you don’t have anything,” said Verone.
The man has high hopes with his recent incarceration.
He has seen several nurses and has an appointment with a doctor Friday.

The ideal scenario would include back and foot surgery and a diagnosis and treatment of the protrusion on his chest, he said. He would serve a few years in prison and get out in time to collect Social Security and move to the beach.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-What would you do given this situation?
-Do you consider James Richard Verone's actions to be noble or costing tax payers money?
-Given his situation, what alternatives could he have tapped into to get the help he wanted/needed without committing a crime?
-If you were the judge, how would you handle his sentencing?

Can The Government Be Trusted With Our Health?

Two official investigations have begun into an unpublished study from the 1940s in which a US researcher deliberately infected Guatemalan prisoners and soldiers with syphilis and gonorrhoea.

These infections were carried out without consent or knowledge of what was being done.

You can read the rest here.

You can read the US Department of Health & Human Services fact sheet on this here.

Some questions:
-Is there ever a situation in which something like this would be justifiable? If so, what would that situation look like?
-Do we know what we are injecting into our bodies? Our children's bodies?
-How should they right this wrong? Can they?
-Do you trust the government with your health?

A Condom With Teeth

Rape-aXe

Once [the device] lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.

"It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on," she said. "If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter... however, it doesn't break the skin, and there's no danger of fluid exposure."

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Do you think this will help prevent rape or just infuriate the male during rape?
-Do you think girls/women will utilize this as an object of payback? If so, what legal consequences should be in place?
-Do you think this is a good invention or like the article states- an enslavement to women?
-Do you believe this to be a device of vengence?
-If you are a woman, what are your thoughts on this development?
-If you are a man, what are your thoughts?

Friends Don't Let Friends Fat Talk

Some questions:
-Does being a size 0 carry the same stigma as being obese? If not, why?
-Do you think obesity is a cultural problem systemic in America?
-How do we battle obesity? Should we?
-Should obesity impact our health insurance rates? Should anorexia?
-Do you think pledges like this video promote actually help change cultural norms?

Brain Tumors Linked To Mobile Phone Usage

Preliminary results of the inquiry, which is looking at whether mobile phone exposure is linked to three types of brain tumour and a tumour of the salivary gland, have been sent to a scientific journal.
The findings are expected to put pressure on the Government – which has insisted that mobile phones are safe – to issue stronger warnings to users.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-If this report is valid, will it change your view of using mobile phones?
-Will you limit your child's usage of your mobile phone (or ban it completely)?
-Do you think the cell phone industry- Sprint, Verizon, T Mobile, AT&T, etc. will counter this forthcoming report?

Health Officials Ready Themselves For H1N1 Vaccine Concerns

One million heart attacks, 700,000 strokes and 900,000 miscarriages -- U.S. public health officials want Americans to know these will happen every single year with or without a swine flu vaccine campaign.

Yet this year, they know a significant number will be blamed on the H1N1 vaccine, which will roll out within weeks, and they are struggling to be ready.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Will you be getting the vaccine?
-Is H1N1 any more of a threat than the "common" flu?

Civility & Good Advice From the Past

A couple of questions:
-Were people just more civil and discerning in the past?
-Why can't we have politicians that have this type of character?

Right To Life Denied Under State Run Health Care

She said: 'When he was born, he put out his arms and legs and pushed himself over.
A midwife said he was breathing and had a strong heartbeat, and described him as a "little fighter".
I kept asking for the doctors but the midwife said, "They won't come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him".'
She cuddled her child and took precious photos of him, but he died in her arms less than two hours after his birth.
Miss Capewell, who has a five-year-old daughter Jodie, went into labour in October last year at 21 weeks and four days after suffering problems during her pregnancy.
She said she was told that because she had not reached 22 weeks, she was not allowed injections to try to stop the labour, or a steroid injection to help to strengthen her baby's lungs.
Instead, doctors told her to treat the labour as a miscarriage, not a birth, and to expect her baby to be born with serious deformities or even to be still-born.
She told how she begged one paediatrician, 'You have got to help', only for the man to respond: 'No we don't.'
As her contractions continued, a chaplain arrived at her bedside to discuss bereavement and planning a funeral, she claims.
She said: 'I was sitting there, reading this leaflet about planning a funeral and thinking, this is my baby, he isn't even born yet, let alone dead.'
After his death she even had to argue with hospital officials for her right to receive birth and death certificates, which meant she could give her son a proper funeral.

You can read more here.

You can read Jayden's story here.

Some questions:
-Should an arbitrary date be the determiner of who is treated and who is not?
-Do you agree with the decision made here?
-How should one determine who should get treatment and who should not? Or should the default be that everyone get treatment?
-Thoughts?

Choosing Thomas

Even if you don't have a child, I still think you can appreciate and sympathize with this family. This is a very moving story that brought me to tears thinking about my son.

It seems this is making the rounds, but it is worth watching so I will post it as well.



You can see more here.

HT: Tim

Obama's Health Care Plan

The bill says that the government agents, "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own? Certain experts'? From what field and theory of childhood development? As if there are one-size-fits-all parenting techniques! Do we really believe they would contextualize and personalize every form of parenting in their education, or would they merely universally indoctrinate with their own?

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Do you support or oppose the current plan?
-Do you even know what is contained in the plan?
-Do you think the government is doing a fair job when it comes to looking out for our best interests?
-If our current healthcare system is corrupt, how do you propose we fix it?

Wisconsin Man Convicted For Praying

A US jury has found a man guilty of killing his sick 11-year-old daughter by praying for her recovery rather than seeking medical care.
The man, Dale Neumann, told a court in the state of Wisconsin he believed God could heal his daughter.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Do you think he and his wife were rightly convicted?
-If using modern medicines caused you to violate your conscience (i.e. sin) would you sin to potentially save your child's life?
-If you are a Christian, how do you answer this dilemma to those who are not believers?
-Did he deserve a conviction for this?

Vaccines & Abortions: A Moral Dilemma

Sorry for not posting in a while, my wife and I had our son and I have been enjoying a few weeks at home with them. Being a father is truly a blessing from the Lord.

Now, since having the little guy, we have been trying to do our homework on things we didn't necessarily give much thought to on the front end- namely doctor visits, shots, vaccines, well-baby visits, etc.

I have since read a couple of books (information at the bottom of this post) on the above that are against the established regimen. What I mean is, they do not favor the above. Instead, they promote allowing the immune system to develop as nature intended and to stay away from vaccines, vitamin K shots, etc.

In the process of reading those books, I have grown tremendously in my understanding regarding the vaccines, alternatives and how to interact with my pediatrician and her cohorts at our child's clinic. What is more, I found something very interesting and it poses a dilemma for me... and I believe every Christian.

Here is that dilemma: Would you take something that, in all probability, will do more harm than good that is derived from a voluntarily aborted fetus, and inject that into your child? I cannot. Throw every other reason for not getting vaccinated out of the window (Death, paralysis, autism, brain damage, and a host of other side effects) and let's say there are no side effects. Every person who is vaccinated will be perfectly normal and the vaccine will do exactly as it is marketed to do- vaccinate. Now, the only issue left on the table is that the vaccines are derived from human fetuses that were aborted back in the 60's and 70's... would I be willing to inject the vaccine in my child? For the good of the rest of the children (herd mentality)? No.

Here is a quote in a letter written in response to a concerned parent regarding state law regarding vaccines and the Catholic Church's stance on vaccines being derived from aborted babies: If someone rejects every form of voluntary abortion of human foetuses, would such a person not contradict himself/herself by allowing the use of these vaccines of live attenuated viruses on their children? Would it not be a matter of true (and illicit) cooperation in evil, even though this evil was carried out forty years ago? Citation.

However, later in the letter, it is stated that if there is a great threat to society as a whole, then it is okay to take such vaccines temporarily, for the good of mankind.

From what I have been reading (written by doctors who work in the field and in pediatrics), no vaccine can be accredited for wiping out or drastically diminishing infections. Every disease that there is a vaccination for was already in decline (and most were drastically declining) by the time the vaccinations were put on the market. So, there would appear no moral obligation to take a vaccine derived from human fetuses that were aborted.

It also stands to reason that most outbreaks tend to occur in those that have been vaccinated. One study even showed that there was a population that was 100% vaccinated against measles and they still had an outbreak.

For me, the risks outweigh any perceived or marketed benefit. Now, what do we do about schooling? Homeschooling is one option and another is to reject vaccines based on religious grounds (a sample letter can be found here) and see if we can still place our child(ren) in public/private schools.

There are a lot of responsibilities that come with children- however, the benefits/blessings of having them outweigh the responsibilities and over time we may not always make the right decisions, but we will make informed decisions.


Some questions:
-Have you given any thought to vaccines?
-Does this little bit of information at the very least cause you to want to look into this more?
-Can a Christian knowingly accept vaccinations for themselves or for their children if they are derived from aborted fetuses?
---------------------------------------------------------

One of the books I have read on the subject: How To Raise A Healthy Child... In Spite Of Your Doctor by Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D. (here is a negative article about him and here is a positive article about him). The book is dated, but I found a lot of thought provoking information contained in its pages. Also, the book answers well the charges brought up against it/him in the negative review- such as why he only saw 6-10 patients a week.

Another book i've read is: Vaccine Alternatives It is written by Ervin Davis, M.D. (A review of the book) This is the only book that I can find he has written, but it is thorough and full of cited material that is not dated. The book was written in 2008 and very current. He cites lots of studies and every stat that he gives, he backs it up with studies. I found this to be a great book that caused me to pause and give more thought to this entire medical issue. He also gives information on how the immune system works and why injecting viruses may not be the best method for building immunity to viruses that are commonly contracted through the air. What is more, he doesn't just leave you with what is wrong, he gives you some information on how to live a healthy lifestyle that will aide you in building your immune system to fight off diseases and viruses naturally.

Here is a link to the CDC and what they have to say about the MMR vaccine. Updated Link as the CDC moved it. They state just a little way down why the vaccine is made from aborted fetal tissue (cell linings) and towards the bottom, risks are discussed in short order. Once on the page, just do a search (CTRL+F) for the word Aborted.

Here are some video discussion between doctors on the issue of mandatory vaccinations. These are very one sided and seem to be overly emotional for the most part.

-------------------------
Part 1

Part 2

Marriage & Family Student Auctioning Off Virginity

A student who is auctioning her virginity to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy has seen bidding hit £2.5million ($3.7m).

The student who has a degree in Women's Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself.

Miss Dylan, from San Diego, California, USA, said she was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks.

Then she goes on to say: "It's shocking that men will pay so much for someone's virginity, which isn't even prized so highly anymore."

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Do you find any irony in the last comment she made above concerning virginity?
-Do you find any irony in the fact that she is auctioning off her virginity to pay for her Marriage & Family masters degree?
-Do you think her parents are proud of her and her sister?
-Would you go to her for marriage or family counseling?
-If she came to you for counsel on this proposition, what would you say to her?

Are The Rumors True?

Has this blog's authors gone MIA? Could this be the end of BDW? Will Batman be able to escape the ice block of Mr. Freeze? Will Robin make it to the commissioner in time?

All of these are fair questions and if you were/are a half way interested reader, it is a pertinent one.

Well, I have no intention on shutting down, however I don't think I (j razz) will be posting much for the next several months. The hustle and bustle of work have taken precedence(a very good thing!), plus the Lord has blessed my wife and I with an extremely small child growing in the womb of my wife as I type this. (That last link is how we told our family) Apparently her anatomy is such that it finds the idea of this small child growing within it somewhat repulsive as almost anything she eats comes back up and almost any type of food does not sound appealing to her. Word on the street is that after 3 months, these symptoms usually taper off- she is one week away from the 3 month mark so we will wait and see.

If you feel so inclined to do- please pray that I will be a minister to her throughout this whole time and will not be selfish when it comes to wants and needs. I need to remind myself of my role.

Thanks to all who have read and will continue to check back on occasion. Who knows, maybe some of the other contributors will write more often. To be continued...

A Message For The Depressed & Downtrodden

John Piper has given some well thought out points on communicating truth to those dealing with anger, depression, skepticism, confusion and a myriad of other difficult issues. Read the snippet below.

If you care about people and risk talking to the depressed, the doubting, the skeptical, the confused, and the angry, you will soon run into a person who says to your counsel: I’ve tried that. Whatever you say, they will minimize it and say it doesn’t work. Do not be surprised at this response. This is what it means to be depressed, doubting, skeptical, confused, angry. It means that whatever they hear sounds useless.

So I want to offer some suggestions for what you say in a conversation that is about to be cut off like that...

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Should believers always seek to point believers and unbelievers alike back to the Gospel? Is it always the answer?
-Does this give you a fresh perspective on ministering to others that are dealing with depression and the like?

Worst Breakfast In America

Bob Evans Stacked and Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Hotcakes
1,543 calories
77 g fat (26 g saturated; 9 g trans)
2,259 mg sodium
198 g carbs
109 g sugars
Saturated fat equivalent: 26 strips of bacon
Sugar equivalent: 12 chocolate chip cookies
Sodium equivalent: 12 small bags of potato chips

It’s not a good sign when it takes you nearly five seconds to spit out the name of your breakfast. This bad boy packs in more than 75 percent of your calories for the day, along with more sugar and fat than nine glazed Dunkin’ Donuts, and nearly as much sodium as five Bloody Marys.

You can see other "worst food choices" here.

Some questions:
-Will information like this change your eating habits?
-How long would it take to burn all that off?
-Do you think that eating the above every day will shorten your lifespan? If so, by how much?
-Can people sue for things like this?

DON'T Eat Your Vegetables (Or Drink Alcohol Or Be Obese)!

Scientists have discovered that going veggie could be bad for your brain-with those on a meat-free diet six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage. 

Brain scans of more than 1,800 people found that people who downed 14 drinks or more a week had 1.6% more brain shrinkage than teetotallers. Women in their seventies were the most at risk. 

And being overweight or obese is linked to brain loss, Swedish researchers discovered. Scans of around 300 women found that those with brain shrink had an average body mass index of 27 And for every one point increase in their BMI the loss rose by 13 to 16%. 

You can read more here.

Some questions:

-Will this study change any of your current habits?

-Do you find studies such as these to be reliable (the whole "eggs are good/ eggs are bad" debate)?

-Do you think a shrinking brain has negative effects on the person?

-Does the brain shrink naturally with age anyways?

A Baby In Need

This is a personal request. I have a friend from university who recently had his fourth child (two twins boys, another boy and now this one). He got real sick and actually had to be resuscitated. He is currently in the hospital and still not doing well. He has been diagnosed with viral spinal meningitis. I would ask that you pray for their son as well as his parents, Adam and Wendy McCollum. I will update this once I hear more.

Specifically you can pray that:
-Adam and Wendy would not be anxious about anything but trust in the Lord that He knows their needs and will meet them or exceed them with His sovereign plan as He is a kind and loving God that is powerful enough to act on that love and kindness and ensure that nothing hinders it.
-Their son would indeed come out of this without ill effect and this would cause his parents to glory in their God and be thankful to Him for the skill and knowledge of the doctors and nurses who are working with their child.
-That the doctors would be wise and diligent in doing what is in the child's best interest.
-That this situation would draw all involved closer to the Lord for His glory and our good.

The End of Contraception: The Government Defines Life

A new set of health laws that could be proposed by the government sometime in the next few weeks has women's health activists steaming. If the laws are implemented, they claim, women will have a harder time getting access to contraception.

The legislation, a draft of which was leaked last week to the New York Times, stokes the debate over when human life begins by taking the position that birth control that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg actually results in abortion.

Late last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton called the planned rules (which could be imposed without congressional approval) "damaging" and a "dire threat to women" and warned that contraceptive coverage would "disappear overnight" if enacted.

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Why do you think the legistlation states life begins at fertilization?
-What are your thoughts on birth control? Is it abortion? If not, when does life begin?
-Should this be legislated to the general public?
-What did women do before the invention of "the pill" to ensure they did not get pregnant- chastity?
-Do you agree with the proposed legislation? If so why? If not, why not?
-Do you see further ethical ramifications stemming from this legislation if passed?
-Has contraception been a good thing for us culturally? Spiritually?

A Cure For Alzheimer's?

A new drug halts the devastating progress of Alzheimer’s disease, say British scientists.

It is the first time medication has been developed to target the ‘tangles’ in the brain that destroy nerve cells, leading to deteriorating memory.

The drug helps to disrupt this process, preventing the formation of new tangles and loosening those already created.

Last night the findings were hailed as the biggest breakthrough in the battle against Alzheimer’s since 1907.

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Did you realize Alzeimer's is the sixth leading cause of death?
-Why do you think we are prone to disease?
-Do you think this "breakthrough" will amount to anything? What about this one?
-Do you have any loved ones coping with Alzeimer's? Will you tell their doctor about this medication?