Worcester County Freedom Trail

Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, is one of my all-time favorite books. It shows how government really only serves government and that hard work and individual responsibility are what pay off in life. I’m not a fan of Ayn Rand’s real life politics, but didn’t she do a great job predicting events of 2008…back when she finished the book in 1957?!

From the Wall Street Journal:

For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises — that in most cases they themselves created — by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.

In the book, these relentless wealth redistributionists and their programs are disparaged as “the looters and their laws.” Every new act of government futility and stupidity carries with it a benevolent-sounding title. These include the “Anti-Greed Act” to redistribute income (sounds like Charlie Rangel’s promises soak-the-rich tax bill) and the “Equalization of Opportunity Act” to prevent people from starting more than one business (to give other people a chance). My personal favorite, the “Anti Dog-Eat-Dog Act,” aims to restrict cut-throat competition between firms and thus slow the wave of business bankruptcies. Why didn’t Hank Paulson think of that?

These acts and edicts sound farcical, yes, but no more so than the actual events in Washington, circa 2008. We already have been served up the $700 billion “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act” and the “Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act.” Now that Barack Obama is in town, he will soon sign into law with great urgency the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” This latest Hail Mary pass will increase the federal budget (which has already expanded by $1.5 trillion in eight years under George Bush) by an additional $1 trillion — in roughly his first 100 days in office.

The current economic strategy is right out of “Atlas Shrugged”: The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That’s the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies — while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers. With each successive bailout to “calm the markets,” another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as “Atlas” grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate “windfalls.”

This is a bit of a departure from our usual political topics, but it’s an important issue so I’m going to raise it here.

I’m not a doctor, nor a medical researcher. But I am a parent who’s been fighting for the life of my teenage daughter who has now been diagnosed with Lyme Disease + 2 co-infections. I have a biology degree and have been through a lot of illnesses myself, but I’ve never seen anything like the story of Lyme.

The CDC estimates there are over 200,000 new cases of Lyme Disease each year in the US. That’s epidemic proportions. Yet most people have no idea how devastating the disease is if it isn’t caught in the first week or two. Muscle pain, bone pain, joint pain, headaches, insomnia, vision problems, diminished cognitive processing…these are just a few of the symptoms. Yet at least half of all people infected never get the tell-tale bulls-eye rash. So the disease goes undiagnosed for weeks, months, and for many, like my daughter, years.

The new book Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic, is a must-read for everyone, but especially for parents. It is a fact-based narrative that tells it like it is, from the political in-fighting in the medical community to the important research that’s not getting the attention it should. And the stories it tells about those infected with Lyme are mesmerizing.

For those affected by Lyme, we fight for a diagnosis, then we fight for treatment. If my family wasn’t living this story ourselves, I’d think this was a Stephen King novel.

This from State Committeewoman Dawn Taylor-Thompson. Just one of many reasons why homeschooling is looking better and better.

SCHOLASTIC BOOKS is now promoting propaganda.  Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” an alleged scientific, factual piece, subtitled “The Crisis of Global Warming,” is being marketed on page 3 of my 10 year old daughter’s April 2008 Arrow Book Club school advertisement.  It sits beside suitable children’s works like  “The Giving Tree,” “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” and “Indiana Jones.”

Gore’s unscientific work, awkwardly situated there under the Scholastic guise of “Earth Day,” is highly debated in the political world, and more importantly, in the scientific one.  Such hotly debated, controversial material should not be the subject matter for tender, easily swayed, impressionable minds.  But I guess that’s the very reason it’s there.

Actual scientists have noted that methane emissions from cow flatulence (gas) in India, alone, have negated emissions reduction in the United States.  Interesting.  Thousands of scientists are banding together against the truths alleged as science.  How inconvenient for Gore!

Funny how the Weather Channel has been talking about the past year being among the coldest years in (recorded weather) history, yet left-winged political pundits keep touting the earth is getting hotter!  What!  Our experts are contradicting each other?  That never happens.  In fact, according to RSS MSU satellite data, the year 2007 was the coldest year this century, even though mainstream media predicted it would break records amongst the warmest.  And according to the WMO, 2006 was colder than ’05, ’04, ’03, and ‘02.

I would have bought “Avatar” for my 6 year-old son and “Dora The Explorer” for my 5 year-old daughter.  Instead, I am proposing a boycott on SCHOLASTIC BOOKS until they retreat from indoctrinating children into the world of liberal politics and go back to marketing Dr. Suess!

Ryan Sorba has been giving speeches around the country on his research into the “gay gene” and his upcoming book, The Born Gay Hoax. We first published information about his speech at Framingham State College last month. All went well. The audience members listened and, if they didn’t want to listen, I assume they left.

Not so at the People’s Republic of Smith College where freedom of speech only exists if you agree with the radical left. This from MassResistance. Don’t miss the video!

Dozens of lesbian activists at Smith College climbed in through windows and stormed the podium in a riot scene shortly after Ryan Sorba began a speech on his upcoming book, The Born Gay Hoax. The melee forced an end to the speech before a packed hall in the library on the Northampton campus. Uniformed police officers and a plainclothes security guard were in the room but mostly just stood and watched. Rather than take action against the rioters, the officers and a university official walked to the podium and ordered Sorba to leave the room “for his own safety.”

Sorba had been invited to speak by the Smith Republican Club and the speech had been widely publicized. He has given the speech at colleges around the country, most recently at Framingham State College. The Smith Republicans had asked the police to be present in case any disruption took place during the event.

The disruption appeared to be planned in advance. The intent was clearly to stop the speech from taking place and to terrorize and intimidate the participants. Shortly after Sorba began speaking, members of the audience started chanting slogans and beating on pots and pans. Then about 15 minutes into the speech, people began to climb into the room through the windows, and a group stormed the podium and stood in front of it screaming and jumping up and down. Then dozens of people began running throughout the room began and screaming “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” and later “Hell no, we won’t go.” It quickly became impossible for the speech to continue.

There were at least two uniformed police officers, a security guard, and one university official in the room. They made no serious effort to stop the rioters. They mostly just stood and watched. Members of the Smith Republican Club tried to stop people from taking over the podium area, but they were easily overwhelmed by the rioters. After a few minutes police and university officials ordered Ryan Sorba to leave “for his own safety.” After that, the rioters used the microphone to exhort the crowd

Great coverage of the recent slap in the face the CT Attorney General gave to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). This AP story was on AOL and MSNBC and Earthlink. Thanks to Walt for pointing this out!

“It’s a great victory for patients,” said Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association, a national nonprofit group based in New Jersey. “It’s time that Lyme patients got the respect they deserve.”

The agreement, announced Thursday, calls for the doctors group to form a new panel of experts to review standards for treating Lyme disease. The Infectious Diseases Society says it agreed to the deal in part because the panel must be made up of doctors and scientists.

Lyme disease can be hard to diagnose with its vague, flu-like symptoms; the most obvious sign is its trademark round red rash. Usually, it’s easily cured with a few weeks of antibiotics. Those not promptly treated can develop arthritis, meningitis and other serious illnesses.

About 20,000 new cases of Lyme disease are reported every year, but experts believe the annual total may be five times higher. [Actually, the CDC believes it's more -- 200,000 undiagnosed cases of Lyme each year. -- ed.]

The guidelines are important because they discourage adequate treatment, advocates of chronic Lyme sufferers say. Perhaps just as significant is that insurance companies refuse to pay for long-term antibiotics to treat chronic Lyme.

“We are delighted with this settlement,” said Diane Blanchard of Greenwich, who said she was sick with Lyme disease for 10 years before a long-term antibiotic treatment relieved her symptoms in the late 1990s.

“The IDSA guidelines are now clouded by this decision. My greatest hope is that patients will regain their right to treatment,” said Blanchard, now co-president of the advocacy group Time for Lyme.

Philadelphia-based health insurer Cigna Corp. said it is reviewing the agreement to see if any changes in policies are needed. Cigna covers up to 28 days of intravenous antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease and, like many insurers, cites the Infectious Diseases Society’s guidelines in its coverage plan.

Cigna does not pay for “repeated or prolonged” courses of antibiotics, saying they are “experimental, investigational or unproven.”

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and advocates say the agreement is the first time the medical establishment has bowed to the pressure of a potential court fight and agreed to re-evaluate care standards.

“My main goal all along has been a process that is fair, open and free of conflicts of interest,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal said his investigation found that some of the 14 experts who approved the 2006 guidelines got consulting fees, research grants and stock ownership from drug companies and other businesses that have a stake in the treatment and diagnosis of Lyme disease.

Sadly, this is what happens when monopolies take on oversight roles. IDSA, American Medical Association, American Bar Association… Monopolies are never a good thing.

Here’s a great new book that’s coming out this month on the Lyme epidemic — Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic. Yes, at 200,000+ cases per year, this is an epidemic.

When journalist Weintraub and her family moved from their cramped, treeless home in New York City to a spacious, tree-shaded manse in suburban Chappaqua, they believed it was all good. Or at least the big yard with deer cavorting in nearby woods would be better, healthier, than their city digs. Within a short time, first one son, then the other, became sick with a series of increasingly debilitating disorders. Soon Weintraub and her husband presented a laundry list of similar complaints, many serious enough to threaten to sidetrack their careers. The family turned to local physicians for answers. Lyme disease, an infection communicated by the bite of a tick carried by those cavorting deer, was mentioned but discounted for a variety of reasons. Weintraub turned to the most prestigious medical centers New York had to offer and got similar responses. Hearing one implausible diagnosis after another and, worse, seeing no improvement in their individual conditions, the credentialed science writer began independent research and turned up what amounts to a controversy as contentious as Creationism versus evolution. Weintraub turns a tragic (her children are still unwell) yet eye-opening experience into a shocking exposure of what can happen when egos, greed, and peer pressure supercede objective evidence, allowing patients to suffer chronic, disabling illness.

GOPDave has asked for a thread where we can discuss our favorite, and maybe not so favorite, political books.

I’ll start by saying I loved The Making of the American Conservative Mind: National Review and Its Times.

I’ll update this list as we go.