November 30, 2009
School declares students too fat to graduate
I can’t imagine how it feels to be told you’re too fat to graduate from college, but I’m assuming it doesn’t feel good:
Most college students expect to receive their diplomas on the basis of grades, but at a Pennsylvania school, physical fitness matters too.
Students at Lincoln University with a body mass index of 30 or above, reflective of obesity, must take a fitness course that meets three hours per week. Those who are assigned to the class but do not complete it cannot graduate.
Calculate your body mass index
Now that the first class to have this requirement imposed is nearing graduation day — students who entered in the fall of 2006 — the school faces criticism from both students and outsiders about the fitness class policy.
One of those students is Tiana Lawson, 21, whose recent editorial in the student paper has drawn national attention to the issue. Lawson wrote in The Lincolnian that she would be more understanding if the requirement applied to everyone. She thinks all students, not just those with a high BMI, should have to take the class.
“I didn’t come to Lincoln to be told that my weight is not in an acceptable range,” Lawson wrote. “I came here to get an education which, as a three-time honor student, is something I have been doing quite well, despite the fact that I have a slightly high Body Mass Index.”
Lawson, who told CNN she had been putting off getting her BMI tested until this year, recently found out she would have to take the class. At first angry, Lawson said she is now more “confused” about the requirement.
“I don’t know why they would want some people to be more healthy than others,” she said.
If she’s upset now I can’t wait to see how she’s going to feel when the government takes over our health care system and they start to dictate how much a person can weigh and starts ordering the Fatty McFat-Fats to follow some government devised weight-loss plan.
I’m assuming these kids knew what they were getting themselves into. If you didn’t like the requirement, you should have chosen a different school. So, I don’t feel bad for them. A BMI of 30 is pretty high, so it’s not like these people are slightly overweight, they’re on their way to being obese.
Comments (3)November 29, 2009
Rule 5 Sunday: Marisa Miller
I saw this chick in a commercial on TV. She is smokin’! Enjoy, boys!
November 26, 2009
Rule 5: Happy Thanksgiving!
I know that isn’t right, but I got a laugh from it and wanted to share that with you. Any opportunity to hit up some Rule 5 action, right? Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!
Comments (1)November 24, 2009
Lieberman digs in heels over public option
This makes me almost want to move back to CT just so I can vote for the guy:
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, speaking in that trademark sonorous baritone, utters a simple statement that translates into real trouble for Democratic leaders: “I’m going to be stubborn on this.”
Stubborn, he means, in opposing any health-care overhaul that includes a “public option,” or government-run health-insurance plan, as the current bill does. His opposition is strong enough that Mr. Lieberman says he won’t vote to let a bill come to a final vote if a public option is included.
Probe for a catch or caveat in that opposition, and none is visible. Can he support a public option if states could opt out of the plan, as the current bill provides? “The answer is no,” he says in an interview from his Senate office. “I feel very strongly about this.” How about a trigger, a mechanism for including a public option along with a provision saying it won’t be used unless private insurance plans aren’t spreading coverage far and fast enough? No again.
So any version of a public option will compel Mr. Lieberman to vote against bringing a bill to a final vote? “Correct,” he says.
Come on, I said almost. I wouldn’t really vote for this guy.
My mom wonders if this means that Lieberman doesn’t plan on running again, theorizing he doesn’t care what the voters think and so he is free to vote any which way he wants. The only problem with that is it doesn’t explain why Lieberman, the former Democrat VP nominee, is dead set against a public option…unless, he realizes, like many of us do, that a public option is a bad idea and will put the insurance industry out of business.
Some speculate that this is because CT is a huge insurance state and that Lieberman is in their pockets. That would be my guess. Although, he might actually see the folly in a public option. I’m not sure what his reasoning is or his motivations. Do I really care? No. This health care bill is bad for America and will hurt Americans. I don’t care how we get the votes against it as long as we get the votes against it.
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NY State Court OKs stealing private property for sports stadium
I don’t care what the Supreme Court ruled in Kelo (2005), this is definitely unconstitional:
New York’s highest court ruled Tuesday that it’s lawful for a state economic development agency to seize private land to build an arena for a professional basketball team.
The 6-1 ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the contentious $4.9 billion, 22-acre Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, N.Y., to proceed. The proposed development includes office towers, apartments and a new arena for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets.
It’s a victory for developers and government entities in New York that have sought to boost local economies with new development. But it is a blow to private-property owners who have argued that they are defenseless in protecting their ownership rights if a government deems their land necessary for eminent domain, or the “public good.”
Protecting private property is one of the jobs our government is supposed to be doing, unlike the other garbage they like to do like stimulus bills that don’t stimulate. The Supreme Court was wrong in their Kelo decision and the New York State Court is wrong with this one. It all sounds harmless…until its your property they take for the purpose of the “public good.”
Comments (0)November 22, 2009
Rule 5 Sunday (for women): Johnny Depp
Sorry, boys. I know that some don’t approveof my obsession with Johnny Depp, but I can’t help it. The man is HOT! Recently named sexiest man alive, here is one more for your enjoyment, ladies:
November 20, 2009
Hispanic lawmakers upset about denying ILLEGALS access to free health care.
If Rahm Emanuel is responsible, even if for purely political reasons, I still have to be thankful for any attempt to block illegals from being rewarded any more than they already are for entering out country illegally:
Hispanic lawmakers say an old adversary, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, has his fingerprints all over a push to prohibit illegal immigrants from buying health insurance plans in a new market for people who don’t get insurance through their employers.
“A forensic study would show it all leads back to Rahm Emanuel and the White House,” said Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who worked with Emanuel when the president’s top aide was in the House.
“This analysis is inaccurate,” said a White House aide who had been shown the comments made by Hispanic lawmakers.
The health care bill passed by the House earlier this month would prevent illegal immigrants from getting subsidies to buy insurance, but they would be permitted to buy plans from the exchange with their own money. The Senate bill would cut off that option.
Let’s be clear here, no one has a right to free health care. Illegals don’t have a right to anything. They don’t have a right to be in our country, never mind to benefit from our elected officials stupid socialist endeavors. Illegals free health care? Go back to your country of origin and get it there.
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I’m talking to the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways.
People are starting to think that both political parties are responsible:
Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country’s current economic problems. In May, 53 percent blamed the GOP.
According to the poll, 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May, and 27 percent now say both parties are responsible.
I wonder when the public is going to start holding itself responsible. It’s such an abdication of our responsibilities to pretend that these politicians are uncontrollable or unstoppable when it is the public that puts them into office and hands over their power. Too “busy” to be bothered with the decisions that will alter their lives, they vote in whatever scumbag promises them the most.
I have said it too many times to count on this blog: if the public wants things to change in Washington it is up to them to change it. Normal citizens need to run for office on whatever ticket they can, independent if they have to, and give these power-hungry pols a run for their money. It was never supposed to be like this. Read our founding documents. It was never supposed to be like this. It is we the people who have allowed it to get this far and it is only we the people who can stop it and take power back.
Time to take some advice from a Michael Jackson song: I’m talking to the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. No question could have been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place you gotta look at yourself and make a change!
Comments (1)November 18, 2009
The Maersk Alabama takes notes from Charlie the Unicorn
At this point, maybe the pirates should take note and stop attacking this ship:
The Maersk Alabama, the American-flagged ship captured briefly by pirates in April, came under fire again early Tuesday morning off Somalia’s coast, but evaded the attackers.
Four men in a skiff sped within 300 yards of the container ship, firing automatic weapons in an attempt to board it, according to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. A security team aboard the Alabama fired back and managed to fend off the attack, the Navy said.
The onboard security detail was a private contractor, not a military detachment, according to a Fifth Fleet spokesman. A U.S. P-3 surveillance aircraft established radio communications with the ship’s captain Wednesday, and the ship reported all aboard were safe, and the ship was proceeding to its next port of call.
In the attack, the Alabama’s crew also took evasive maneuvers and used a new technique to repel pirates: deploying a so-called long-range acoustic device, which emits high-pitched sounds painful to the human ear.
I’ve seen evasive maneuvers used once before:
OK, I might have just been looking for an opportunity to post Charlie the Unicorn on my blog, but can you blame me?
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