† Does The U.S. Need An Election Monitor?: Dems and libs insist that voter fraud does not exist (related article, seventh item on the page), but the FL Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) the FBI arrested eight people for falsifying absentee ballots cast in Madison County’s District One School Board race last year, WCTV (Channel 6, Tallahassee, FL) reports:
[T]he District One School Board race, which was won by candidate Abra “Tina” Hill Johnson, had an extraordinarily disproportionate amount of absentee votes. …
Abra “Tina” Hill Johnson, 43, was charged with 10 counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote, and two counts of absentee ballots and voting violations. Her husband Ernest Sinclair Johnson, Jr., 45, was charged with 11 counts of fraud in connection with casting votes, one count of corruptly influencing voting, and one count of perjury by false written declaration. Jada Woods Williams, 34, Madison County Supervisor of Elections, was charged with 17 counts of neglect of duty and corrupt practices for allowing the distribution of these absentee ballots, contrary to Florida state statute.
Five others involved in the voter fraud conspiracy were charged with multiple counts of fraud in connection with casting a vote and providing a false report to law enforcement authorities and/or perjury by false written declaration. …
The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office, Second Judicial Circuit. The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are possible.
† Nationalized Healthcare Always Leads To Rationing: In this Wall Street Journal op-ed former NY Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey, an ObamaCare opponent explains why the recent study in Lancet reporting that 32 percent of elderly American patients undergo surgery in the year before they die does not make the case for limiting access to healthcare resources for this patient population:
The Lancet investigators looked only at patients who died, making surgery appear unsuccessful. That's like saying Babe Ruth struck out 1,333 times so he must have been a poor ball player – even though he had a .342 lifetime batting average and 714 home runs. Investigators should have considered how all surgery patients fared, including those who recovered, returned home from the hospital and resumed active lives.
Valid data show that surgeries on older patients are successful. A 2003 study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology followed 220 patients age 65 and older who underwent heart-valve surgery. The study concluded that "age does not appear to limit the health related quality of life benefits" of surgery. Even patients over 75 had symptom relief and improvements in quality of life "on a par with improvements seen in younger patients."
The decision to operate should be based on a patient's ability to benefit, not age. Dr. Martin A. Makary of Johns Hopkins has developed a way to gauge readiness for surgery with his well-known, 10-minute frailty test. It identifies which older patients have the physical reserve to withstand the stress of surgery and resume an active life.
So should medical resources be reserved for younger patients? That's an ethical issue. But research should not be rigged to prove that withholding care is harmless. Yet such flawed research is driving our political debate.
† Obama Is Just About Every U.S. President All Rolled Into One!: Throughout the 2008 campaign and before he had been inaugurated, pundits and historians likened Barack Obama (he wasn’t using his middle name back then; only “racists” were) to, well, just about all of his predecessors – including a couple of “cool” Repubs, like Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Now that everyone’s seen the Mediocrity in Motion that is the Obama presidency, he has been likened to several uncool Repubs, like Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon, and people no longer perceive the similarities to our more illustrious presidents that they had once discerned (related article, fourth item on the page). Case in point: Obama is no longer JFK. At least that’s what MSNBC host Chris Matthews thinks now. The Wrap reports:
Obama’s personal touch is gone. You’ll see. I personally think that’s his deficit. His lack of personal rapport and connection and bond with other politicians and the people. He doesn’t have what Jack Kennedy had, what Clinton had -- relationships with people in the country.
He doesn’t have a relationship based on, "We’re all in this together." It’s: "Look how smart I am, look how good I am at this." Kennedy invited people in to help him share the Peace Corps and the special forces, to be part of winning the Cold War without a war. A Kennedy person was someone called to duty. You don’t feel that today.
The men, part of a team supported by the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans, a nonprofit organization, were among dozens of wounded warriors competing. About 130 racers, including Evans and King, used handcycles. Others crossed the finish line on prosthetic legs, where a growing throng cheered.
Evans wanted his family – his wife and two daughters, 1 and 5 years old – to see him finish the race. After all the pain and suffering, he wanted them to see him in a moment of triumph.
But the first few miles were much harder than he had anticipated. The cold caused his shoulder muscles to cramp. The early hills sapped more energy than he thought they should. His prosthetic arm kept slipping out of place. Doubts started creeping in.
“Don’t give up,” King implored. “Keep going.” …
By mile eight on Sunday, the sun started to warm Evans’s shoulders. The pain subsided. He pushed through Georgetown, then past the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial. …
By mile 13, the halfway point, King, who lives in Germantown, told Evans to pace himself. There was still a long way to go. …
In mile 22, Evans hit the wall. He shoulders felt leaden; his abs ached. King encouraged him, making small talk: “Anything to keep his mind off the race.” …
When Evans slowed, King slowed. They had started off as strangers but were now buddies joined in a long, hard slog. “We’re Marines; that’s enough,” King said.
Three hours and 41 minutes after they began, they crossed the finish line together. Volunteers draped medals over their heads. Applause surrounded them. They bumped fists and steered their way through the crowd.
Comment by Ronald Brahin on November 5, 2011 at 5:36pm 
Comment by Toni Tabb on November 5, 2011 at 2:43pm 
Comment by Larry Self on November 5, 2011 at 11:36am 
Comment by Dave Newbry on November 5, 2011 at 11:35am 
Comment by james stamulis on November 5, 2011 at 11:21am 
Comment by Norman Zink on November 5, 2011 at 10:28am 
Comment by TC in Austin on November 5, 2011 at 10:21am 
Comment by Jim Pryor on November 5, 2011 at 10:21am 
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