Surprise: ObamaCare Will Bankrupt Hospitals Serving Elderly & Poor, Moody's Says

Urban hospitals that serve large populations of the elderly are going to be in even bigger financial trouble as a result of cuts to Medicare written into the Obamacare bill, so much trouble that they might be forced into closure. Certainly, the added financial pressure will not be good in any case. Most at risk are hospitals in New York City and Texas that are centers for heart surgery and neurosurgery.

Also likely to be forced into closure by Obamacare are community hospitals that serve the poor but aren't subsidized by a larger hospital system.

This information comes from a report recently issued by Moody's Investors Service, which keeps an eye on the financial health of commercial and government entities.

That's a lot of bad news for many poor and elderly patients who need the medical services of hospitals but don't live in more affluent areas. It's also bad news for others in those areas who won't have a convenient community hospital to turn to for even emergency services, and for people who will need heart surgery and neurosurgery.

I've been warning ObamaCare advocates that government care isn't going to be the same care they are used to, only cheaper, available to more people, and absent pain-in-the-neck paperwork. It's going to be a lot more like the VA government-care system, where ordinary hospital care is offered not by community but by region, and veterans commonly have to travel long distances for common tests and procedures like eye exams, x-rays, or physical therapy evaluations that most people expect to get right in their neighborhoods.

From ModernHealthCare.com:

Spending varies across regions, but Moody's noted those ranked as most expensive included mostly urban and densely developed communities and providers there could be targets for reform efforts, as written in the report.

“Attempts to minimize variation in healthcare costs among regions is almost certainly going to involve cuts to Medicare reimbursement to high-cost providers,” according to the report. Stand-alone hospitals without the resources of a system, dependent on referrals and unable to attract insured patients, will be most likely to struggle.

The five most-expensive regions—which are defined as geographic areas in which patients are referred to the same hospitals for major cardiovascular surgery and neurosurgery—are Miami, Fla.; McAllen, Texas; the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan; and Harlingen, Texas.

I note that hospitals in the Bronx and Manhattan are among the most expensive to operate and thus at highest risk of taking cuts for services rendered under ObamaCare. That fact makes it even more interesting that residents of those two New York boroughs have been among the strongest supporters of Obama's campaign, election, and policies. The Bronx loved him, and the Manhattan vote for Obama was just about unanimous.

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Back from the Future

Thank you to readers who have been checking in on this blog, wondering what happened to me. I stepped into a time machine, and the exit door didn't open for a week.

Which is another way of saying that, for one week, I got a few unwelcome reminders of the kinds of system breakdowns that occur when economies head south and companies and institutions stretch their resources until, inevitably, things snap. A couple of these breakdowns resulted in my losing my Internet connection for most of the week, explaining my absence from this blog.

Of course, breakdowns come part and parcel with technology in the best of times but, undeniably, the clatter of signals of the economy's downhill slide, like splashes of gravel hitting the roof, have been getting increasingly alarming, even here in my little corner of Progressive Paradise, where most people have been using ObamaHope as an inoculant against reality. Obama, they were certain, was going to make everything wonderful by acting as their proxy to smooth-talk the world out of violence. He was going to make a gift of hassle-free, state-of-the-art health care to everyone physically present in the United States. He was going to lower sea levels by dispensing with fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine, while making every hip Progressive who invested in wind, solar, and lithium battery technologies rich, or at least a lot more comfortable, courtesy of free (somebody else pays) government subsidies.

Reality nevertheless managed to pay a call here, and Obama devotees who forgot that there are certain benefits to living in a capitalist society are facing shortages of jobs and money. Academics are getting by on less funding, supplies, and staff. Shopkeepers are sitting in empty shops waiting for customers. Yes, and even women with pink ribbons pinned to their lapels are being slapped with guilt trips if they consider "wasting" the nation's precious health resources by getting mammograms or even using self-examination lest they find lumps that turn out not to be cancer, thus burning up valuable diagnostic time and healthcare money that could have been spent on something (somebody) else.

Many people who can't (or can barely) afford health insurance understandably still have their fingers crossed that Obama will come through for them, sadly without coming to terms with the cold fact that whatever Uncle Sam puts into one pocket, he vacuums out of another (never neglecting to take a cut to pay Congress), and that both those pockets inevitably belong to the same people who are rooting for Obama to save them.

Not even Progressives will escape. A rising tide lifts all boats, but the opposite also is true. Private insurance may go away, but paperwork will not, nor waiting lines, nor mix-ups in computerized records; in fact, these will get much, much worse.

But it is clear, now, love of Obama will go away.

Progressives who otherwise are perfectly computer literate have allowed themselves to believe that health care will be made cheaper by a magical process in which 310+million people's health care records are seamlessly transferred into a giant, fantastically reliable Obama-nationed computer network. Their awakening will come when some portion of the accuracy and integrity of the government record-keeping at recovery.gov is applied to their personal health records.

We don't need a trip in a time machine to understand that the state-of-the-art health care and environmental protection are luxuries affordable only by the people of wealthy nations with plenty of disposable income, not by the people of nations cutting back on production, jobs, resource use, money, savings, and the bits and pieces of technology that keep business and medical care humming along.

But, unless we can stop them, a trip in a time machine is exactly what we will be getting as Congress, led by Obama and cheered on by those who think they won't be paying the fare, passes out the obligatory "your only choice" tickets to the future that will make the last year look like a good year.

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Hooray! Maryam & Marzieh To Be Freed Today

Many readers of this blog will be heartened to hear that two young women jailed in Iran in the notorious Evin prison for the crime of converting to Christianity have been told that they will be released today.

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, letters, contributions, and assemblies. Thank you for spreading the word in every way that you could. Thank you to Christian ministries who work to shed light on the plights of Christians imprisoned, tortured, and murdered for no other cause than their Christian faith. One of these is Voice of the Martyrs, which keeps track of persecuted Christians worldwide. Another is Elam Ministries, which serves Christians in the Iran region. It has been important to let Iranian officials know that many eyes are watching for Maryam and Marzieh's safe release.

Maryam and Marzieh are not completely out of the woods yet. They are being sent home, but they are in poor health and will be required to return to court. So keep praying and keep your eyes on them.

Even as we celebrate the return of Maryam and Marzieh to their homes, we have not forgotten about Rifqa Bary, an even younger woman, a mere 17 years old, who is being held in virtual house arrest in the state of Ohio. Rifqa's crime? None, but she came to fear for her life when her parents and their mosque learned that she had secretly converted to Christianity three years before and fled to the Florida, which, after a number of hearings, sent her back to Ohio. Not yet returned to her parents, not permitted to attend school, and not permitted telephone conversations with her friends, Rifqa waits in foster care for the state to decide her fate.

Rifqa's supporters, who include a number of Christian converts from Islam who share her fear for her safety, as well as friends and relatives of girls who were victims of so-called "honor killings," will be assembling in Columbus, Ohio today to let American officials know that eyes are looking out for Rifqa's safety, too.

Read about the Rifqa Rally at Atlas Shrugs and Jihad Watch, and be there if you can. If you can't, a call to Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (contact info here) can help a young person enjoy the freedom of religion which so many Americans were willing to guarantee with their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

If Rifqa's freedom of religion cannot withstand the forces of Islam in courts here in the United States, it certainly will not bode well for the rest of us.

Hat tip: Freethemm.com
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Related posts:

• Meditation: Rally for Christian Convert, Rifqa Bary
  
• Meditation: Progress for Maryam & Marzieh
• Rifqa Bary Meets Hamlet. Result: Alas or Huzzah?
• Judge Keeps Rifqa Bary Temporarily in Florida--Again
• Meditation: 187 Candles Plus 1, Updates on Maryam, Marzieh, and Rifqa
  
• Mediation: Londoners Hold Prayer Vigil for Maryam and Marzieh
  
• Aqsa, Amina, Sarah, Rand
  
• Meditation: Will Florida Protect the Lives and Speech of Christians?
  
• Meditation: Maryam and Marzieh Face Death But Refuse to Renounce Christianity
• Meditation: Pray for the Release of Maryam and Marzieh
• Maryam and Marzieh: Convicted of Being Christian

Meditation: John Adams on Supporting Liberty

No matter who Obama bows to, I remember this:

Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.

John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

How Low Can Obama Go?

Obama pretending to know something about Japanese culture.


Hint: Japan is not Indonesia, and you are not "a little Jakarta street kid" anymore,
Mr. President.

Your protocol advisors are chuckling behind their sleeves.

Update: Images of other head-of-state bows greetings to the Japanese emperor, shamelessly snatched from Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit.

Update: Japanese emperor greeting American president (h/t Townhall.com):

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Religion of Peacer Encounters Transvestite in Rochester, NY

It looks like self-described Muslim, Munir Muthana, got a surprise when he attempted a close encounter with a man dressed as a woman in Rochester, NY.

Apparently enraged that he had been seduced by a transvestite (or perhaps enraged that he was seen keeping company with a transvestite), Muthana, 27, jumped into his car and proceeded to run down six pedestrians and to repeatedly crash his vehicle into several civilian vehicles and two police cars.

From 13-WHAM:

According to court documents, police say Muthana allegedly got intoxicated and was seen going into the Kennedy Towers with a transvestite. It is not clear whether the suspect knew he was with a transvestite.

When someone on the street confronted Muthana with that information, it is alleged that Muthana became enraged and began intentionally running people over.

Deputy Police Chief George Markert said an officer was flagged down on South Plymouth Avenue around 2 p.m. by pedestrians saying a driver was trying to hit people with his car.

When officers responded, Muthana allegedly pulled into a parking lot, drove in circles and struck numerous pedestrians before fleeing.

“He was trying to run people over on the sidewalk,” said Laurali McLean of Rochester, who witnessed the scene. “He smashed the cop cars back and forth. It’s very sick.”

The officers pursued him through the west side of the city. During the chase, he intentionally hit two police cars several times, as well as other vehicles in the area, before being taken into custody at Brooks Avenue and Genesee Street. The suspect did not go willingly; witnesses say it was this that median finally stopped his rampage.

According to court documents, when he was arrested, Muthana was yelling remarks such as “F*** the police,” “The Muslims will fix this country,” and “I was trying to fight that f***** shemale.”

A Rochester Police spokesman says the RPD diligently checked with all federal authorities and found that Muthana was not on any sort of terrorist watch list. While he was also heard muttering words like "jihad" and "hating Americans," he also reportedly said he didn't hate Americans, just police.

Alcohol containers were found in his car.

Seven people, including Muthana, were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. Those injured were: Dominick Nicholson, 21; Tyrese Beard 20; James Pross, 40; Debra Hollis, 50; Luis Cruz, 25; Diane Neil, 49, all of Rochester.

Muthana is being held on $20,000 cash bail, $80,000 bond. He returns to court on November 16.

I hope that transvestite is a little more choosy next time.

Hat tip: Jihad Watch
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Now They Tell Us: "You Don't Want Hasan in Your Foxhole"

It looks like Jihadist Nidal Malik Hasan had his teachers, colleagues, and superiors over a barrel. Ain't PC just grand?

From Daniel Zwerdling at NPR:

Starting in the spring of 2008, key officials from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences held a series of meetings and conversations, in part about Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others last week during a shooting spree at Fort Hood. One of the questions they pondered: Was Hasan psychotic?

"Put it this way," says one official familiar with the conversations that took place. "Everybody felt that if you were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, you would not want Nidal Hasan in your foxhole."

Yet, Hasan was about to be deployed to give psychiatric care to American warriors. Appalling.

Deeply Troubling, Schizoid Behavior

When a group of key officials gathered in the spring of 2008 for their monthly meeting in a Bethesda, Md., office, one of the leading — and most perplexing — items on their agenda was: What should we do about Hasan?

Hasan had been a trouble spot on officials' radar since he started training at Walter Reed, six years earlier. Several officials confirm that supervisors had repeatedly given him poor evaluations and warned him that he was doing substandard work.

Both fellow students and faculty were deeply troubled by Hasan's behavior — which they variously called disconnected, aloof, paranoid, belligerent, and schizoid. The officials say he antagonized some students and faculty by espousing what they perceived to be extremist Islamic views. His supervisors at Walter Reed had even reprimanded him for telling at least one patient that "Islam can save your soul."

Exactly how low were their standards? This guy wouldn't last a day as a receptionist in the office of any doctor that I know.

[P]sychiatrists and officials who are familiar with the conversations, which continued into the spring of 2009, say they took a remarkable turn: Is it possible, some mused, that Hasan was mentally unstable and unfit to be an Army psychiatrist?

But they still assigned brave soldiers in mental and physical pain to Hasan for "treatment." Nightmare material. Horrible.

One official involved in the conversations had reportedly told colleagues that he worried that if Hasan deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, he might leak secret military information to Islamic extremists. Another official reportedly wondered aloud to colleagues whether Hasan might be capable of committing fratricide, like the Muslim U.S. Army sergeant who, in 2003, killed two fellow soldiers and injured 14 others by setting off grenades at a base in Kuwait.

So why didn't officials act on their concerns and seek to remove Hasan from his duties, or at least order him to receive a mental health evaluation? And why was he about to get shipped to Afghaistan or Iraq to treat seriously distressed service men and women?

Good questions.

Zwerdling offered some possible explanations:

For one thing, Walter Reed and most medical institutions have a cumbersome and lengthy process for expelling doctors, involving hearings and potential legal battles. As a result, sources say, key decision-makers decided it would be too difficult, if not unfeasible, to put Hasan on probation and possibly expel him from the program.

Focusing for just a moment on the concept of "unfeasible," it isn't difficult to speculate about the sound of the wheels humming in the brains of that psychiatric team: Think what would happen when lawsuits started to fly. / The Army's priority is to keep that multiculturalism thing going. And Hasan is not from just any old culture. / How feasible will it be to hassle a guy named Hasan when the commander-in-chief's name is Hussein? Who bows to the monarch of Saudi Arabia. And who spent his formative years as "a street kid" in a country with the largest Muslim population on the planet, where he studied the Koran in school, and later grew up to describe the Muslim call to prayer as "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset" (see the report in the New York Times). Oh, and who had a Muslim grandfather and stepfather. A commander-in-chief who wants to give foreign Islamic terrorists U.S. Constitutional rights and have captured enemy combatants Mirandized on the battlefield. Who appointed an attorney general whose law firm defended Islamic terrorists. Etc.

Second, some of Hasan's supervisors and instructors had told colleagues that they repeatedly bent over backward to support and encourage him, because they didn't have clear evidence that he was unstable, and they worried they might be "discriminating" against Hasan because of his seemingly extremist Islamic beliefs.

See Reason #1 again. Teachers and supervisors had been making excuses for Hasan and letting him slide for so long that it had become just about impossible to back out. For years, no one had had told Hasan that he wasn't cut out for psychiatry. Like Charles Krauthammer pointed out, political correctness is both immoral and dangerous.

Third, the officials involved in deliberations this year reportedly were not aware, as some top Walter Reed officials were, that intelligence analysts had been tracking Hasan's e-mails with at least one suspected Islamic extremist since December 2008.

Back to Reason #1 again. Hearings and potential legal battles. In a political and working environment in which the only correct answer is that Islam is the religion of peace and the U.S. is the world aggressor who should be apologizing to "victimized" Muslims in danger of experiencing "backlash." And, as Charles Krauthammer did not point out, political incorrectness, however moral, also can be dangerous. Especially to one's career and livelihood.

And finally, Hasan was about to leave Walter Reed and USUHS for good and transfer to Fort Hood, in Texas. Fort Hood has more psychiatrists and other mental specialists than some other Army bases, so officials figured there would be plenty of co-workers who would support Hasan — and monitor him.

In other words, "He's not our problem anymore. Let Fort Hood deal with him."

Zeidling and NPR named the names of participants in the spring meeting and subsequent conversations:

• John Bradley, chief of psychiatry at Walter Reed;
  
• Robert Ursano, chairman of the Psychiatry Department at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS);
  
• Charles Engel, assistant chair of the Psychiatry Department and director of Hasan's psychiatry fellowship;
  
• Dr. David Benedek, another assistant chairman of psychiatry at USUHS;
  
• psychiatrist Carroll J. Diebold;
  
• and Scott Moran, director of the psychiatric residency program at Walter Reed, according to colleagues and other sources who monitor the meetings.

I shudder that these psychiatrists' buried concerns about Hasan, now resurrected, will support any insanity defense brought up in his favor, serving to bury Americans' outcry against terrorism and treason, making us less safe.

And I would be remiss--even politically correct--if I did not point out that these doctors' unrecorded concerns about Hasan also speak volumes about the kind of medical attention that, speaking in practical terms, they were willing to consider adequate for Hasan's patients. When push came to shove and these physicians had to weigh their concerns on the political and career balance, assuring effective medical care by a caring physician for some of our brave soldiers at Walter Reed and at Fort Hood turned out to be a feather being weighed against a brick, that brick being involvement in messy lawsuits and a possible avalanche of ill will directed at those doctors, against a backdrop of headlines and editorials, talking heads, and public radio opinion pieces portraying America as racist and intolerant rather than properly wary and, quite reasonably, intent on survival.

The lesson for the Walter Reed psychiatrists and officers who couldn't believe their lying eyes is one that all America must learn.

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Denmark Tries Paying "Anti-Social" Foreigners to Go Home

Maybe the Danes shouldn't have succumbed to their fit of socialized generousity and, instead, refused to offer foreigners instant welfare checks, free housing and transportation, unemployment benefits, social security, and more. Although Denmark's immigrants account for a little over 7% of the population, when the entitlement checks backed by Danish taxpayers get handed out, immigrants account for 40% of the takers.

Denmark quickly revised its immigration policies, which are now the toughest in Europe, but the question remains: What to do with those bossy immigrants who don't want to become Danish citizens, don't want to assimilate, but do want to turn Denmark into wherever they used to live (but with substantial entitlements paid for by someone else)?

Where did Denmark's immigrants used to live, chiefly?

Yugoslavia, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Somalia, and Turkey.

It's so much fun having 7% of your population trying to turn you into Iraq or Somalia that Denmark is now offering substantial cash incentives to foreigners to "return to their homelands if they 'can't or won't' assimilate into society."

From the UK Daily Mail:

The offer now on the table is close to £12,000 for every person who takes up the offer to leave.

[snip]

The financial carrot is ten times more than that previously offered under a scheme which as been law since 1997.

'We thought it was important to substantially increase this aid so that immigrants who want to return home because they are not able to adapt to Danish society have a strong financial basis to start a new life,' said foreign affairs spokesman Soeren Espersen of the far-right Danish People's Party.

The offer is aimed at immigrants and refugees who 'cannot or do not want to integrate into Danish society,' said the head of the DPP's parliamentary group, Kristian Tuelesen Dahl.

[snip]

In addition, 20 million kroner will be set aside for city councils in charge of integrating immigrants to 'motivate' foreigners to return to their homelands.

Opposition parties are shocked by the news, and fear it sends the message 'that foreigners are not welcome in Denmark'.

And this, from the Copenhagen Post:

The Danish People’s Party (DF) has strengthened its immigration stance by securing an agreement to pay ‘anti-social’ foreigners 100,000 kroner to leave Denmark.

[snip]

The new deal would see 100,000 kroner given as a bonus if a foreigner returns home and gives up their residency rights in Denmark.

Neither the government nor DF has yet elaborated on what constitutes an ‘anti-social’ foreigner, but have said that it would be aimed at those who ‘can’t or won’t integrate’.

According to DF party leader Pia Kjærsgaard, the move will save the state a significant sum in local costs which are administered by local and regional councils.

‘Society will save a lot on an immense number of charges and problems. We already know that there are problems with nursing homes and have been problems with hospitals and health charges,’ Kjærsgaard said.

The Danes are trying another tack as well:

Ten million kroner of the budget will be set aside to improve passport control at Danish borders with the purchase of scanners that can check Interpol databases for stolen travel documents.

An all-too-familiar case of closing the barn door after the horse is gone.
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Jihadist Hasan Has More Suspicious Contacts

From ABC News:

A senior government official tells ABC News that investigators have found that alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan had "more unexplained connections to people being tracked by the FBI" than just radical cleric Anwar al Awlaki. The official declined to name the individuals but Congressional sources said their names and countries of origin were likely to emerge soon.

Questions already surround Major Hasan's contact with Awlaki, a radical cleric based in Yemen whom authorities consider a recruiter for al Qaeda. U.S. officials now confirm Hasan sent as many as 20 e-mails to Awlaki. Authorities intercepted the e-mails but later deemed them innocent or protected by the first amendment.

The Washington Post has posted Hasan's PowerPoint presentation from his "medical" lecture on Islam, suicide bombers, and Muslim threats to the military. Entitled "The Koranic Worldview As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military," it is available here.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Unless you are willing to wipe the warning from your consciousness with a politically correct scrub.

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George Washington's Prayers to the God of Armies

Offered on this solemn Veterans Day, a prayer of George Washington, as expressed in his Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States, November 2, 1783:

To the various branches of the Army . . . he [Washington, speaking as Commander-in-Chief] can only again offer in their behalf his recommendations to their grateful country, and his prayers to the God of Armies. May ample justice be done them here, and may the choicest of heaven's favours, both here and hereafter, attend those who, under the devine auspices, have secured innumerable blessings for others.

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Jihadist Hasan, Card Carrying "Soldier of Allah," Literally

Just for the record:

In which SoA means Soldier of Allah and SWT means . . . well, Atlas Shrugs has the rest. Hasan's own card, given out by him with Korans to his neighbors.

Another Fort Hood eyewitness account, reprinted from Small Dead Animals (via Constant Conservative):

I was notified by dispatch that there were several shots fired and potentially several victims. The scene was not safe so we were instructed to "stage" close to the scene. While staging I was approached by a police officer that their was an "officer down!"...I told him I had not gotten a "code 4", our code that the scene was safe for emergency responders to enter the scene. The officer left and came back again to me to tell me again there was an officer down and needed EMS NOW!

He assured me the scene was safe so we proceeded into the scene. Several bystanders were around and Ft Hood fire dept was already on scene. My partner went to a pt lying on the ground on her side of the ambulance and I approached the officer who had been shot; her gun shot wound was exposed which appeared to be potentially fatal due to the location, a tourniquet was applied prior to my arrival which probably saved her life; she was conscious but appeared very pale and probably in compensated shock at this point due to the massive amount of blood loss I witnessed around her.

I was then summoned to other patients calling for EMS; the next pt I approached was shot in the neck with a arterial bleed...I instructed bystanders to continue to hold pressure to the wound and gave them bandaging material. I triaged several pt's with potentially life threatening wounds, each worse than the next.

A young man walked up to me and asked if I could help him, I asked him, "where are you shot?", he told me in the chest...I directed him to go sit in my ambulance and an army medic sat with him and started oxygen and bandaging on him; in the mist of the madness I was trying to determine who would be the first to be transported still waiting on the helicopters to land so I could fly out the worst.

While getting more bandaging material off my ambulance several bystanders carried a soldier to my truck that had been shot in the head, he was conscious and breathing, he kept asking me "am I gonna die?", I told him I was doing the best I could, knowing from experience his situation appeared bleak.

Behind my ambulance several bystanders were doing CPR on a lady that had obviously been fatally shot, in a mas-cal situation you do "the most good for the most people"...that means save the ones you can and black tag the un-salvageable...it's a harsh truth but effective in this type of situation.

Since the helicopter was still not there I made the decision to take off and transport these two critical patients to Darnell Army Hosp which was about 4 mi away. I quickly dropped off those patients and headed back to the scene with an ER nurse as well to help. In the meantime, several other ambulances had showed up and others had been transported leaving me with one soldier shot in the shoulder, and deservedly last, the shooter was the last to leave the scene and was flown to a hosp approx 30 mil away since the local hosp's were overwhelmed at this point.

I consider myself and seasoned and experienced medic but no one can prepare you for a war zone, which is exactly what this was...I felt so helpless trying to help so many with such limited resources. Thank God for all the bystanders, fire dept and community EMS services that came to our aide. Thank you officer Kimberly Munley for being so brave and fearlessly doing your job....

Uh, and our nation's top Homeland Security officer and the U.S. Army's top officer want us to feel sorry for Hasan and his death cult buddies?

Hat tip: Snaggletoothie of the Loyal Opposition
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Related posts:

• Straight Talk on Jihadist Hasan: Political Correctness Killed Ft. Hood Patriots
  
• American Woman Shoots Down Ft. Hood Jihadist
• Massacre at Fort Hood (Updated 11/6/09)

Monday Morning Digest

Go to sleep one night, wake up with your world changed (again).

The Stupak amendment passed. Unbelievable. William Jacobson:

This is a stunning development, one which anti-abortion activists could not have imagined just weeks ago. The Speaker of the House and Democratic majority, notwithstanding their lip service to women's reproductive rights, were willing to throw those rights aside to hand the Obama administration a temporary legislative victory.

Of course, this is nothing new. The Democrat party threw women's rights from the train long ago, just about the time that Ceegar Willie was conducting job interviews under his desk while his female cheerleaders were degrading feminism into what Ann Althouse called "a dull, uninspired argument for keeping Democratic politicians in power."

ObamaCare passed the House by five votes. Yukio Ngaby:

It is unreasonable to vote for $1 trillion dollars of non-essential spending amid a recession and a 10.2% unemployment rate, while two mostly ignored wars are being fought. It is unreasonable to believe that the U.S. government could do a better job of regulating the medical industry than it did regulating the housing market and manipulating interest rates. It is unreasonable to release a 2000 page bill on Oct. 30, force a vote on Nov. 7, and then claim due deliberation and transparency. It is unreasonable for a president to stand before Congress and the American people, declare that he will not sign a bill that increases the deficit by one dime or requires cuts in Medicare benefits, then essentially renege on that promise within two months, and believe that the American people will not notice.

Now the bill goes to the Senate to be re-rammed down America's throats, some willin' and the majority not so willin'. More Yukio Ngaby:

. . . I firmly believe the response of the Senate will depend on the response of the American people to this bill's passage through the House. If we behave subdued, defeated, tamely distraught, then the bill will pass largely unchanged. If we stand idle and mutely confirm that we believe Washington knows what is best for our individual lives, then the bill will pass largely unchanged through the Senate. And if we show that we are not disinterested in the political process, despite our lives, families and careers, that we will hold those responsible accountable to their votes, then it will be unlikely to pass at all.

[snip]

We can allow ourselves to be discouraged by elected officials unresponsive to the concerns of their constituents. We can allow ourselves to be bullied into silence. We can allow ourselves to lapse into a listless malaise amid baseless accusations of racism and extremism, and disingenuous questioning of our patriotism. But it defies the basic precepts of representative democracy to do so.

I know that ObamaCare and Cap'n Tax and Copenhagen Conference approvals and whatever other legislative vampire bats the Democrats have temporarily caged in committee, ready for release on the American public, are vitally important, and I will not allow myself "to be bullied into silence," but my heart and mind have been with the families of Ft. Hood.

Via Constant Conservative, an eye-witness account.

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Meditation: Rally for Christian Convert, Rifqa Bary

He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. Psalm 91: 15

I've been following reports of the persecution of several converts from Islam to Christianity, among them Rifqa Bary, the Ohio teenager who fled to Florida when her Muslim parents and their mosque discovered that she had converted to Christianity (a capital offense under Sharia law). Since my last post about Rifqa she has been returned to Columbus, Ohio, despite previous assurances by the Court that she would not be returned to Ohio if her parents did not present proof of legal residency in the U.S. Rifqa is now awaiting yet another hearing.

Rifqa's next dependency hearing, her first in Ohio, is being held on November 16, and Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs, Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch, and Dr. Andrew Bostom are organizing a Rally for Rifqa on that day "in support of the reinstatement of Rifqa's rights and freedom of religion."

Two big problems being faced by Rifqa in her struggle for religious freedom is the inability of many Americans to imagine that she could be in real danger and the inexperience of American legal and social systems in dealing with Sharia law, the law that governs Muslims.

In case you have doubts that converting from Islam to Christianity can be a life-threatening action, a number of people with first-hand knowledge of the risks involved will be at the rally bearing witness for Rifqa. These warriors for the truth include Simon Deng, an ex-slave from Sudan; Nonie Darwish, Executive Director of Former Muslims United; Jamal Jivanjee, another apostate who is now a pastor and Rifqa's friend; James Lafferty, Chairman of the Virginia Anti-Sharia Task Force; Patricia Said, mother of Amina and Sarah Said, Texas teens who were slain in an "honor killing"; and other family members of honor killing victims. Also lending support will be talk show radio host, Joyce Kaufman.

Rifqa's supporters implore you to join with them in Columbus, Ohio for this event.

Rally for Rifqa

November 16, 2009

Dorrian Commons Park

across the street from

Franklin County Juvenile Court

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Check Atlas Shrugs for directions and more details about speakers and attendees as the date nears.

It would also be helpful to contact Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, here, and tell him to make certain that Rifqa's fears are taken seriously and that she is permitted to enjoy religious freedom in safety.

Maryam and Marzieh are still imprisoned. Please pray for them.
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Related Posts:

• Meditation: Progress for Maryam & Marzieh
• Rifqa Bary Meets Hamlet. Result: Alas or Huzzah?
• Judge Keeps Rifqa Bary Temporarily in Florida--Again
• Meditation: 187 Candles Plus 1, Updates on Maryam, Marzieh, and Rifqa
  
• Mediation: Londoners Hold Prayer Vigil for Maryam and Marzieh
  
• Aqsa, Amina, Sarah, Rand
  
• Meditation: Will Florida Protect the Lives and Speech of Christians?
  
• Meditation: Maryam and Marzieh Face Death But Refuse to Renounce Christianity
• Meditation: Pray for the Release of Maryam and Marzieh
• Maryam and Marzieh: Convicted of Being Christian

Straight Talk on Jihadist Hasan: Political Correctness Killed Ft. Hood Patriots

Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters tells it like it is:

Peters in today's New York Post:

On Thursday afternoon, a radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting "Allahu Akbar!" committed the worst act of terror on American soil since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or associate it with Islam.

What cowards we are. Political correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Ft. Hood as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat it like a case of non-denominational shoplifting.

This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it’s an act of terror. Period.

When the terrorist posts anti-American hate-speech on the Web; apparently praises suicide bombers and uses his own name; loudly criticizes US policies; argues (as a psychiatrist, no less) with his military patients over the worth of their sacrifices; refuses, in the name of Islam, to be photographed with female colleagues; lists his nationality as "Palestinian" in a Muslim spouse-matching program, and parades around central Texas in a fundamentalist playsuit — well, it only seems fair to call this terrorist an "Islamist terrorist."

But the president won’t. Despite his promise to get to all the facts. Because there’s no such thing as "Islamist terrorism" in ObamaWorld.

And the Army won’t. Because its senior leaders are so sick with political correctness that pandering to America-haters is safer than calling terrorism "terrorism."

And the media won’t. Because they have more interest in the shooter than in our troops — despite their crocodile tears.

Other appreciators of Peters' eloquence: It Don't Make Sense and Libertyblog.
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Related posts:

• American Woman Shoots Down Ft. Hood Jihadist
• Massacre at Fort Hood (Updated 11/6/09)

NY-23 Winner Breaks 4 Campaign Promises in 1st Hour in Office

Notably, of course, all affecting Congressman Bill Owens' former opposition to ObamaCare, which melted away just a few minutes after he was sworn in today at noon by Nancy Pelosi as NY-23's brand-new Congressman.

• Campaigned against the public option. Now for it.
• Campaigned against cutting Medicare. Now for it.
• Campaigned against ObamaCare coverage for illegal aliens. Now for it.
• Campaigned against raising taxes and taxing health care benefits. Now for both.

Just three days ago, on Tuesday, Democrat Owens won NY-23's special election for Congress, beating Conservative Doug Hoffman by 4 percentage points after the Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, withdrew from the race and threw her support to Owens. Other Owens supporters include members of ACORN's Working Families Party, which endorsed him.

Read all about it in The Gouverneur Times.

Hat tip: Moe Lane at Red State.
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American Woman Shoots Down Ft. Hood Jihadist

Via Atlas Shrugs:

This photo shows the heroic civilian police officer, Sgt. Kimberly Munley, who ran from directing traffic toward the sound of gunfire to within a few feet of Nidal Malik Hasan, and shot him 4 times, despite being shot herself, apparently still possessing the presence of mind to leave him alive to face questioning and punishment.

Thank you, Sgt. Munley.





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Massacre at Fort Hood (Updated 11/6/09)

Ft. Hood, Texas. 6:04 p.m. Eastern

Twelve killed, 31 injured.

The current report, via Gateway Pundit, is that the primary shooter was US Army Major Malik Nadal Hasan, a psychiatrist. He reportedly was killed by civilian law enforcement and is rumored to have been a convert to Islam about to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Two other suspects have been apprehended.

Update (6:30 p.m. Eastern): Via Hot Air, the two apprehended suspects were also shooters, and also soldiers.

Update (11/6/09 12:30 p.m. Eastern)

• The Army has released the apprehended suspects. The massacre was performed by a single shooter, US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan.
• Hasan is alive, hospitalized, and recovering from four gunshot wounds which he received from a female civilian police officer, Sgt. Kimberly Munley, who ran from directing traffic toward the sound of gunfire to within a few feet of Hasan. Sgt. Munley was shot by Hasan and is recovering following surgery.
  
• Hasan is a licensed psychiatrist who reportedly joined the Army immediately after high school and received his medical degree training at a cost of about half a million dollars paid for entirely with taxpayer dollars.
• A devout Muslim, Hasan is reported to have prayed in his mosque every day.
  
• Hasan thought it was a good idea for a Muslim convert to shoot two young soldiers taking a break outside a recruiting center.
  
• Although born in the U.S. and serving as a U.S. Army major he identified himself in writing as a Palestinian. The photo at the right shows Hasan dressed in traditional Muslim garb the morning of the massacre.
  
• He was fast-tracked to become a major, and he received his promotion this past May.
  
• He interned at Walter Reed Hospital, where he treated soldiers returning from combat.
  
• On the morning before the massacre, he handed out Korans to his neighbors.
• He hired a lawyer to keep him from being deployed to Iran or Afghanistan, where he would have been serving as a psychiatrist.
  
• As he shot more than 40 unarmed people waiting for medical exams, he shouted out the name of Allah.
  
• To kill more people, he jumped up on a table to shoot.
  
• One of his victims was a pregnant woman.

Some above info via Mark Steyn, sitting in for Rush Limbaugh.

Update (11/6/09; 1:30)

• This year, 2009, Hasan completed a fellowship in "Disaster and Preventive Psychiatry." (h/t gravenimage, commenter at Jihad Watch.)
• Last year, 2008, Hasan was listed as a participant in a Homeland Security Policy Institute's presidential transition task force.

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Kill-the-Bill Tea Partiers Call on Congress

During his radio show this afternoon, Sean Hannity interviewed Congresswoman Michelle Bachman and actor Jon Voight at the Capitol in Washington, DC as American patriots wandered through the halls to speak with members of the House about the Pelosi government care bill.

Bachman estimated the Kill-the-Bill crowd at a minimum of 20,000 people who came together in a demonstration organized in less than a week, through word-of-mouth, from an idea hatched last Thursday evening and announced last Friday on the Hannity radio TV show. Voight estimated the size of the crowd as much larger than 20,000, and he described the Patriots who attended as "eloquent."

The Congresswoman reported that thousands of Patriots were each given a half page of the Pelosi bill, with the suggestion that they go into the Halls of Congress (which is open to the public) and ask their representatives to explain the section of the Pelosi bill printed on each half page. Bachman asked that more Americans keep the heat on by volunteering as reinforcements to do the same tomorrow and Saturday.

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Pelosi Plan: Wait for That Surgery, and Wait, and Wait, and Wait . . .

Want to see the future of health care under Madame Pelosi's latest scheme? Open Thomas Sowell's recent book, Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One, to the chapter entitled, "The Economics of Medical Care." Or read that chapter in nine parts in Investor's Business Daily. Sowell explains the why behind the bureaucratic decisions that seem senseless from the standpoint of anyone who wants to promote good, affordable medical care.

Because government care by definition is a system in which the money used to pay for "maintaining health or curing sickness" is "routed through political institutions and government bureaucracies," it goes without saying that that once that money leaves taxpayers' hands, it is concealed from public view forever.

Out of sight, out of mind, and the natural tendency of people is to get as much medical care as they can when it is paid for by "the government." As a matter of survival, any government operating a socialized health-care program has to impose price controls. And it is also a given that price controls hidden in government bureaucracies don't lend themselves to examination by doctors and patients. In government care, we can't forget, the careers of medical care bureaucrats will be at stake.

One popular government care "price control" is limiting the amount of time you can spend with your doctor. As reported in the Wall Street Journal in 1987, in the now-defunct Soviet Union: "the norms call for physicians to see eight patients an hour. That is 7.5 minutes per visit, and Soviet studies show that five minutes of each visit is spent on paper work. . . . 'Our heads spin from rushing,' said Pavel, the silver-haired chief of traumatology at a Moscow clinic." In Japan, Korea, Canada, and elsewhere, government care, once instituted, reduced time per visit and necessarily increased the number of visits per patient (which, incidentally, also increased the incomes of doctors getting paid per visit).

When it comes to wait times to see primary care physicians and surgeons, Sowell points out, U.S. medical care is way ahead of the pack:

A study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that 23% of the patients having elective surgery in 2001 in Australia waited more than 4 months for that surgery. So did 26% of the patients in New Zealand, 27% of patients in Canada, and 38% of the patients in Britain. In the United States, only 5% of patients had to wait that long. The conclusion:

Waiting lists for elective surgery generally tend to be found in countries which combine public health insurance, with zero or low patient cost sharing and constraints on surgical capacity. Public health insurance and zero cost sharing remove the financial barriers to access to surgery.

Constraints on capacity prevent supply from matching demand. Under such circumstances, non-price rationing, in the form of waiting times for elective surgery, takes over from price rationing as a means of equilibrating demand and supply.

Elective surgery, incidentally, was not limited to cosmetic procedures but included cataract surgery, hip replacements and coronary artery bypass surgery.

Moreover, although a four-month waiting period was used by the OECD as a benchmark for collecting statistics, in Britain 3,592 patients waited more than six months for a colonoscopy and 55,376 waited more than six months for an audiology diagnosis, according to a report in the British Medical Journal in 2007.

In Canada, according to a provincial government website, 90% of Ontario patients needing hip replacements waited 336 days. In Britain, the wait is a year.

I'm certain Nancy Pelosi doesn't wait 4 months for her life-saving botox injection appointments, never mind a year. Although, judging by her ability to respond to the voices of the American people, she might not consider a six-month wait for a hearing test to be any inconvenience at all.

And how about government investment in diagnostic technology under the Pelosi Plan?

As for technology, a 2007 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that the number of CT scanners per million population was 7.5 in Britain, 11.2 in Canada and 32.2 in the United States.

For Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) units, there was an average of 5.4 MRIs per million population in Britain, 5.5 per million population in Canada and 26.6 per million population in the United States.

You might have your Congress Critters' phone numbers memorized by now, but, if not, you can find them here.

Pelosi wants a vote on Saturday.

I say, make her wait.

If a long wait for medical attention is good enough for us, a very long wait for a vote is good enough for her.

One more thought: After Tuesday's demonstration of the redistribution of voter sentiments on the invincibility of Obama's judgment, it might be worth a phone call or two just to find out whether those Congress Critter staffers have gotten a memo to treat ObamaCare opponents a little less like rich, illiterate Morlocks attempting to harvest the latest crop of speaking-truth-to-power Eloi.

Maybe they'll be nice to you.
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10,000+ at Houston Tea Party

It happened Monday:

Can We Keep Our Republic quoted a pertinent insight by Frederick Douglass, a black man who suffered from racial injustice under slavery; who wrote multiple autobiographies following real achievements; who undeniably respected and was respected by Abraham Lincoln; and who was in actual fact a brilliant orator who could and did speak extemporaneously with eloquence:

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they have resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they suppress.

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Democrat + Working Families Party = ACORN

Even in my little corner of Progressive Paradise, population about 1,200, I had the option to vote for an ACORN candidate. And I had the chance to vote for a referendum that would give ACORN and its non-for-profit affiliates free prison labor in my state.

I didn't.

But if you want to see lots more ACORN in your life, make sure you take advantage of your chance to vote for those Working Families Party candidates.

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Related Posts:

• ACORN Set to Control America's Banks! No Joke
• Vote No for ACORN
• Could the Big Apple Become the Big ACORN?
• Lefties Wrestle Over NYC: It's ACORN vs. Air Ameri...
• Notice Any Familiar Names in ACORN's List of Frien...
• Poor ACORN: Tax Evasion, Investment Fraud, Rackete...
• ACORN Has Own Political Party in NYC--And It's Win...
• New ACORN Debris Flying from the Spinning Rotor (U...
• Delicious Reading: "Defund ACORN Act"
• House Votes to Defund ACORN, 345 to 75!
• Laughing Through Tears: ACORN Investigates Themsel...
• San Bernadino ACORN: New Definition of "Liberal"
• Obama's New Consumer Financial "Protection" Agency...
• White Slavery: No Problem for ACORN Offices (UPDAT....

Tale of Two (Chicago) Neighborhoods

In the West Garfield neighborhood of Chicago, median property taxes are going up 46.4% this year. That's right, in a single year, property taxes are going up almost 50%.

This is what the West Garfield neighborhood looks like:



As just about everybody on the planet knows, President Obama also has a home in Chicago. Six-thousand-plus square feet, 7 baths, etc. It looks like this:


Obama's taxes are going up 1% this year.

That's the same rate of increase as for the Illinois Treasurer, Alexi Giannoulias. Mayor Richard Daley's property taxes went up 3.5%. Rahm Emanuel's went up 3.7%.

Surely there's a great explanation. Because taxes will not be going up for the middle class, just the rich. We have that on good authority.

Hat tips: Economic Policy Journal, TaxProf Blog.
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What? NY-23 Scozzafava says, "Vote for the Democrat"

Republican Dede Scozzafava, who yesterday abandoned her run for Congress in New York State's 23rd Congressional district, this afternoon threw her support to the Democrat/Working Families Party (ACORN) candidate, Bill Owens, and asked her supporters to join her in opposing Conservative Republican Doug Hoffman.

Scozzafava put it in writing:

. . . I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same.

[snip]

Please join me in voting for Bill Owens on Tuesday.

Scozzafava, the Republican Party's million-dollar baby, had hoped to win the seat of another Republican, John McHugh, who was sidelined as a Conservative voice in the House when Obama recruited him to serve as Secretary of the Army. Because NY-23 had shown support for Obama, Democrats recognized a opportunity to get a Democrat into McHugh's empty seat, which has been held by Republicans continuously for more than 150 years.

Conservatives complained that Scozzafava was difficult to distinguish from a Liberal Democrat. She has been a strong backer of card-check, the union scheme to turn workplaces into union shops even when the majority of the workers in those workplaces oppose union involvement. Compulsory union dues, of course, provide union bosses with fat purses from which to make donations to political campaigns, explaining why the ACORN/SEIU team have so many devotees in Congress.

Conservative Republican Doug Hoffman threw a monkey wrench (or was it a sabot) into the works by running on the Conservative ticket, thus offering Conservative Republicans, Independents, and disaffected Democrats a non-RINO choice in the election. Within a matter of weeks, Hoffman had risen from 12th in a field of 12 running for the Republican Party's nomination to 2nd in the race only a few days before Tuesday's election. Hoffman's cause célèbre campaign offers Conservatives hope of saving the Republic through the electoral process by switching the tracks for the ObamaCare Express, due--with screeching wheels--at the station before year's end.

With her endorsement of Owens, Scozzafava openly joined the ranks of New York's Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, "who urged Dierdre K. Scozzafava to endorse Democratic congressional candidate William L. Owens, the senator's spokesman said Saturday." Schumer has been Obama's most vocal proponent of using the nuclear option to push ObamaCare through Congress with a mere 51 (Democrat) votes despite strong opposition by the majority of Americans polled.

By allying herself with the Democrat/Working Families Party crowd, Scozzafava earned the approval of "other Democratic leaders . . . , including White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel."Among those "other Democrat leaders" are Congressman Steve Israel (Huntington, Long Island); state Democratic Committee Chairwoman June F. O'Neill, who met with Scozzafava's husband to discuss the endorsement; and, of course, Barack Obama, who earmarked campaign donations he attracted in New York City recently to Owen's campaign. The Democrat/Working Families Party candidate himself, Bill Owens, was "honored" to accept Scozzafava's endorsement as a "bipartisan solution."

Meanwhile, Conservatives around the country have hitched at least one wagon to rising star Doug Hoffman, an accountant in New York's North Country who doesn't offer a "bipartisan solution," but who can read a budget.

Hat tips: Another Black Conservative, Michelle Malkin,

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Related posts:

• NY-23 Breaking News: Scozzafava Quits Race! (UPDATED)
• To Those Thinking of Voting for Any Democrat on Nov. 3
  

Meditation: Prayer That America Protects the Unborn and the Vulnerable

American Catholics attending Mass this weekend will be offering up the following prayer:

Suggested Prayer of the Faithful:

That Congress will act to ensure that needed health care reform will truly protect the life, dignity and health care of all and that we will raise our voices to protect the unborn and the most vulnerable and to preserve our freedom of conscience. We pray to the Lord.

Amen.


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Related Post: Catholic Bishops Unite Against Abortion Mandates in Health Care Bill