RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/terror-warning-grid-down?f=must_reads

Could the reluctance to secure our nation’s critical electric infrastructure be considered an act of terrorism? Or might it possibly be an act of providing material support for terrorism? If so, who would the terrorists be?

Which is the greater threat to America’s national security-coordinated terrorist acts on major cities, such as the 9/11 attacks, or the deliberate inaction of corporate executives to secure our nation’s electric grid? Consider the consequences: nearly three thousand people died in the 9/11 attacks; but a widespread and prolonged electric grid collapse, caused by a naturally-occurring coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, could result in the deaths of over two-thirds of the population-200 million Americans. Given these dire statistics should those in positions of authority over the security and reliability of the bulk power system be held accountable for lack of action before a “grid-down” scenario becomes a reality?

We live in a terrifying world-and it’s getting more so by the day. If you listen carefully to the news, you’ll hear about localized natural disasters, failing global economy, the specter of creeping socialism, and potential violence from “domestic extremists,” as well as from a vague assortment of international terrorists. If you go beyond the mainstream news, you’ll find that natural disasters can, indeed be continental-wide (and possibly global). You’ll find that our economic woes-beginning with the 2008 “crash”-have been manipulated by foreign interests and “financial terrorists.” You’ll realize that “creeping Shari’a” is on par with, if not more dangerous than creeping socialism. And you may discover that the real threats to national and homeland security are not from American “liberty loving” patriots who are prudently preparing for emergencies, but from an Iranian theocratic regime driven by an apocalyptic agenda (plus its allies) and a “global jihad movement” intent on establishing global Islam. You may also learn that our adversaries know exactly what our vulnerabilities are. They know precisely how to take us down, instantaneously and long-term. They know how to take down the nervous system of our country-the electric grid.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/high-cost-impact-of-more-regulation-staff-on-health-care-inflation?f=must_reads

You have heard a lot about ‘health care inflation’ over the past 40 years or so. You would think that much of the ‘inflated’ cost of health care would have to do with paying a massive skyrocketing number of highly-skilled physicians, surgeons and specialists, right? After all, these doctors are the most important part of any medical procedure when it comes to figuring out what is wrong with your body, isn’t it?

We have had several surgical procedures over the course of our lifetime. The two most important people I wanted to talk to before the surgery were 1) the surgeon but most especially, 2) the anesthesiologist.

To surgeon: ‘Surgeon, can you perform this procedure really well?’
Surgeon: ‘I have done more thymectomies that any person who has ever lived in Planet Earth. I have done so many of them I could do this one stoned, blindfolded and half-crocked!’
‘Ok, then. You are my man!’

To anesthesiologist: ‘Will I wake up after the surgery?’
Anesthesiologist: ‘Yes, sir, you will!’
‘That is all I need to know. When do we start?’

(unabashed plug for Duke University Medical Center surgeons and anesthesiologists…they were awesome…and right)

If you thought most of the increased costs in health care were going to the physicians and surgeons and specialists, you would be most definitely wrong. Take a close look at the chart that accompanies this article. The number of doctors in America has roughly doubled, perhaps a little more. Perhaps 125% growth. The population of the US has increased about the same amount over the same period of time.

But take a good look at the number of administrators that have been added to the US health care scene in these past 40 years! Over 3000%!

When something, ANYTHING, increases by 3000%, that means the number has increased exponentially, not linearly or even geometrically. 125% growth over 40 years is about a doubling in number. 3000% growth means ‘it has grown in magnificent leaps and bounds’!

If there were 10 doctors in your hometown in 1970, there would be roughly 25 doctors working there today to take care of everyone. If there were 25 administrators in the medical field in your town in 1970, there would be over 750 health care administrators in your town today. Where do you think the increased costs in health care have occurred over that time frame, in doctor’s salaries or what is more commonly referred to as ‘G&A’ expenses (‘General Administrative’)?

The federal government has made it clear that they think the problem is in doctors’ fees since they have repeatedly been lowering the ‘Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates’ for the past 2 decades at least.
But they don’t control the salaries of the CEOs and the administrative staff of these large hospitals and medical practices so they can’t ‘lower’ the reimbursement rates to them directly, at least as they can with the doctors.

Are there more or less support staff nowadays than way back when? Think about the elementary school, junior high school, high school you attended perhaps as far back as the Dark Ages of the 1960’s (Triassic Period) or the 1970’s (Jurassic Period). Do you remember tons of ‘other people’ working there other than the great teachers you had and perhaps a principal, assistant principal, some office support staff, coaches and 2-3 driver’s ed teachers?

http://pjmedia.com/claudiarosett/olympic-gaffe-apologizing-to-the-wrong-korea/

For a moment, it looked like even before Friday’s opening ceremony, the London Olympics were off to a visionary start. On the first day of competition, just before a women’s soccer match between North Korea and Colombia, an introductory video shown on big screens in the Glasgow stadium displayed the flag not of North Korea, but of South Korea.

Shock! Horror! The North Korean team stormed off the field, and refused for a while to come out and play. The game was delayed. The incident spawned a host of headlines such as the Wall Street Journal’s “North Korea Outraged Over Flag Flub,” and, from the Associated Press, “Chorus of Apologies at Olympics for North Korean Flag Flap.” Members of a CNN panel denounced it as a “national insult” to North Korea. The Olympic organizers issued groveling apologies to North Korea. International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge called the flag mixup “most unfortunate.” As for British Prime Minister David Cameron, he tried to excuse it as an “honest mistake,” leading to headlines such as that in the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper: “David Cameron joins scramble to placate North Korea after flag fiasco.”

Seems to me they’re all apologizing to the wrong Korea. If any nation had rights to be insulted by the mixup, it was not North Korea. It was South Korea.

http://pjmedia.com/spengler/2012/07/26/what-would-egypts-morsi-have-to-do-to-get-disinvited-by-obama-eat-babies/ So far, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Mursi has called for the release of the “Blind Sheikh” Abdul Rahman — the convicted mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 — released 25 convicted terrorists from Egyptian prisons, and met with the leaders of the Gaza-based terror organization Hamas. President Obama invited […]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/07/which_is_worse_leaking_classified_information_or_destroying_it.html

SEN. FEINSTEIN FIRST ACCUSED THE WHITE HOUSE OF LEAKING INFORMATION AND THEN SLITHERED BACKWARDS AND WALKED AWAY FROM THE ACCUSATION…ANOTHER SPAGHETTI SPINE DEMOCRAT…..RSK

The discovery of leaks of sensitive or classified information has startled the American people and many politicians alike. Recent leaks have jeopardized US national security causing unprecedented concern for America’s best and brightest operators working inside the Defense Department and our spy agencies. But what is more damaging — leaking classified information or destroying it?

Leaking classified information is irresponsible and damaging but so can the destruction of information.

Just this week, two reports have unfolded proving some Department of Defense leaders are actually destroying sensitive information for selfish reasons. These acts of betrayal can actually cost the lives of America’s greatest assets — our warriors.

The Washington Times released an article titled Army destroyed report that favored software that detected buried bombs. The article explains how military leaders and their civilian counterparts actually destroyed information in an attempt to protect one of their own babies, an intelligence tool known as the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS).

http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2012/07/should_we_ban_farm_tools.html

Mayor of Chicago and former Obama hatchet-man Rahm Emanuel famously said “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” And when it comes to the Aurora, Colorado massacre last Friday, the left certainly hasn’t let The Godfather down. Of course, people on both sides of the aisle quickly stated that it’s inappropriate to politicize a tragedy, but those with the loudest voices have done their best to make sure that the twelve killed in Colorado while enjoying a night at the movies died for the cause of gun control.

Hollywood notables Michael Moore, Cher, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Piers Morgan, John Leguizamo, Russell Simmons, D.L. Hughley, Martha Stewart, Henry Winkler, and Bette Midler quickly blamed the firearms. As did politicians like Jan Schakowsky and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Longtime journalist and former White House Press Secretary Bill Moyers called Americans “bloodthirsty,” “violent,” and “inept.” But it was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who was the biggest demagogue of them all. He raised the specter of pulling the police officers off the streets of New York if Americans didn’t renounce their guns.

Bloomberg’s comments speak to the heart of the matter, which is the battle between tyranny and freedom. Bloomberg is a collectivist at heart, and firearm ownership promotes (and protects) individualism. Like a tyrant, he threatened civilians with the idea of taking away what little protection the state offers its citizens if they dare attempt to protect themselves.

So, as has become customary in this country, the discussion quickly turned to “who is to blame?” If the left wants to have that discussion, conservatives should welcome it, since the arguments are on our side. If one is persuaded by anecdotes, like our pals in Hollywood, here are a couple: First, we just passed the one year anniversary of when Anders Brevik killed 77 people in Norway — the vast majority with his firearm — in the country that has what may be the strictest gun control laws in the Western world. What was Hollywood’s response then?

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1454/is_appeasement_of_hezbollah_now_eu_policy_ In the wake of last week’s terror attack against Israeli civilians in Bulgaria, the European Union has refused Israel’s request to blacklist Hezbollah as a terror group, citing a lack of “tangible evidence” it was engaged in terrorism. The attack, which claimed the lives of five Israelis and a local Bulgarian man, has been […]

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1457/an_olympic_insult_to_israel_s_murdered_athletes “You didn’t hear the voice of the world,“ the two ladies exclaimed. “’Yes, I did,” he replied. That, according to the Jewish Chronicle, was the exchange of words at a meeting earlier this week between two Munich massacre widows and the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, who refused their request for […]

http://melaniephillips.com/syrias-chemical-weapons-arsenal There is a degree of panic, and rightly so, over whether the Syrian tyrant Basher al Assad will use chemical weapons against either his own people or foreign attackers. His regime has this week threatened to do the latter, thus finally confirming what was long suspected but never openly admitted, that Syria possesses chemical […]

http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2012/07/26/a-morsi-napolitano-jihadist-pipeline-to-america/

A Morsi-Napolitano Jihadist Pipeline to America?

Team Obama saw fit to delay [2] construction of the desperately needed Keystone pipeline—jeopardizing US energy security by extending our unnecessary reliance on fossil fuels from Muslim countries which use their profits from this trade to foment and actively fund jihadism.

Now it seems the Muslim Brotherhood [3] (and its even more overtly bloody offshoot)-supporting [4] Team Obama policymakers are creating another variety of “pipeline,” compatible with their repeatedly [5] ludicrous [6], see-no-jihad ideological predilections.

Here is the depressingly plausible scenario by which such a dangerous travesty could unfold.