scraps of former sanity's blog

So, a few weeks ago, some of you may remember that I posted a blog entry about the nullification duel that New Hampshire started with the Feds. I'm not here to repeat myself with that, though some themes  Read More »

Now, how many people have heard about Obama's latest blunder? Apparently, not too many, so I'm going to post about this myself. This is friggen' HUGE. There is a part of the latest Stimulus Package that will affect "every individual in the United States." All of our health care information will be available to the feds at will electronically. That much can be good in limited amounts because it helps to prevent repeated tests or unnecessary treatment.

However, it goes much further than that: the Feds will be watching what your doctors are doing to make sure they meet certain standards. And what are these standards based on? COST EFFECTIVENESS. They don't care about you. They only want your health care to be cost effective. This means that if you have an atypical condition which requires experimental treatment, your fate will be decided by people who have never, ever met you and only know what's on the papers they're given about you. Besides the federal standards for doctors, doctors will be penalized if they differ from those standards at all, effectively creating a uniformity among doctors.  Read More »

We recently covered this in our government class. This is real, it's huge, and yet, there's NO news coverage for this. In fact, I'm surprised we even talked about this in class. A student brought it up, and the teacher found the entire text of the Resolution and went through it with us in class the next day. This is SO huge. If other states adopt this, it could mean a complete turnaround in the way the American government works, probably for the better.  Read More »

As everyone knows, one of the most prominent debates in today's world is that of abortion. It's the one thing that everyone has an opinion on. But I must ask, WHY? Aren't there more important issues to devote all your time to? Seriously, I have my own opinion on it, but I certainly won't devote all my time to it like most of these activists on either side seem to do.  Read More »

How many times have you seen this in a debate?

Person 1: I lost my virginity at 15!
Person 2: That's... wrong! Don't do that!

This is one thing that always bugs me in a debate: when people say something is "wrong" as their only counterpoint. This is simply because morality is a subjective concept that we as humans came up with to explain types of behavior. Please note that most of this is just my personal theories on the origins of morality, but (as should be obvious), they make perfect sense in my own mind.  Read More »

As you guys probably know already, I'm pro-choice. I think abortion is disgusting and should be discouraged, certainly. But to ban it all together is counter-productive to the pro-life goal: more women would die due to anti-abortion laws because of abortions being done by unqualified doctors, increasing deaths among both fetuses AND women alike.  Read More »

I am currently taking Advanced Placement United States history. I live in the North and am a proud Bostonian, so don't even try to say that this is just caused by a hypothetical Southern bias. And yes, slavery should never be practiced.

Firstly, yes, it is true that Lincoln eventually freed the slaves in America. However, it was the worst emancipation process in Western history. No other Western nation needed a Civil War to end slavery. (By the way, slavery was NOT even a major cause of the Civil War. It was about money, tariffs, and states' rights. The Northerners knew that if the South successfully seceded, their own economy would have died. If slavery was non-existent at the time of the Civil War, there is no doubt in my mind that the South would have had the entire world's moral support.)  Read More »

So, this is a topic I do not think I have discussed here: gun control, and why it will be the beginning of increased crimes. I think it is completely backwards no matter where you are, American Second Amendment aside. It only increases crime and decreases the ability of honest people to defend themselves against criminals.  Read More »