Dr. Government

Is Obamacare About to Kill Hotel Room Service?

"In August, the New York Hilton Midtown, in the heart of Manhattan, will discontinue food and drink service to all 2,000 of its rooms. In its place will be a new self-service Herb n’ Kitchen stocked with grab-and-go items. A spokesman for the hotel, which is part of the chain that also operates the Waldorf, cited declining demand for room service as the reason; some hotel industry experts see the elimination of the labor-intensive amenity as a way for the chain to save money." Continue reading →

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UK moves forward with three-parent IVF treatment

"The British government has said it will pursue a radical fertility technique that uses DNA from three parents to create an embryo. The IVF-based technique is designed to avoid serious mitochondrial diseases inherited on the maternal side, such as muscular dystrophy. Mitochondria are the structures within cells that convert energy from food into a form that the body can use. The technique would replace some of the unhealthy DNA with healthy DNA from the so-called 'third parent'. Politicians are due to debate the regulations in parliament next year, setting the stage for Britain to become the first country to offer the treatment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK moves forward with three-parent IVF treatment

Politicians, Staff Threaten To Quit Over Obamacare Exchange Mandate

"I had some fun back in April when I noted that politicians and staff on Capitol Hill were getting very agitated about having to be part of Obamacare. Well, it seems that the way the law applies to them is so costly that many of them are thinking about calling it quits. Here are some of the heartbreaking details. Because of sloppy legislative language in Obamacare, it appears that the politicians and Hill staffers will have to pay for health insurance with after-tax dollars out of their own pockets. If things get too hard for those blokes and gals, maybe the powers that be on the Hill can re-hire the grief counselors who were put on the payroll after the 2010 elections." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPoliticians, Staff Threaten To Quit Over Obamacare Exchange Mandate

Is It Good News or Bad News that the White House Has Delayed the Obamacare Employer Mandate?

“So part of me is happy that the White House has bumped into reality and now admits that it hasn’t been able to come up with a workable plan for the employer mandate.  But another part of me is unhappy.  … Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs It Good News or Bad News that the White House Has Delayed the Obamacare Employer Mandate?

CDC Report Fatally Shoots Obama’s Theory of Gun Violence

"Obama earlier this year issued an executive order commanding the Centers for Disease Control to do a study of gun violence in America — as if gun violence is caused by a disease. The CDC did what it was told. It has issued a report. It shoots down Obama. 'Between the years 2000-2010 firearm-related suicides significantly outnumbered homicides for all age groups, annually accounting for 61 percent of the more than 335,600 people who died from firearms related violence in the United States.' This creates a major problem for Obama. It’s difficult for the government to prosecute users of unregistered handguns who kill themselves." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCDC Report Fatally Shoots Obama’s Theory of Gun Violence

Female inmates sterilized in California prisons without approval

"Doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates from 2006 to 2010 without required state approvals. At least 148 women received tubal ligations in violation of prison rules during those five years - and there are perhaps 100 more dating back to the late 1990s. Federal and state laws ban inmate sterilizations if federal funds are used, reflecting concerns that prisoners might feel pressured to comply. California used state funds instead. The allegations echo those made nearly a half-century ago, when forced sterilizations of prisoners, the mentally ill and the poor were commonplace in California." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFemale inmates sterilized in California prisons without approval

When Vice Enforcement is a Capital Crime

"Alexa Hamme of Salt Lake City was 25 years old when she died in a jail cell. She had been arrested four days earlier on suspicion of drug possession and endangerment of a child or adult. That last charge is a sentence enhancer often tacked on to a drug arrest as a way of escalating the potential penalties and extorting a guilty plea to a lesser charge. Using drugs is unwise and self-destructive. The same is true of other personal vices, as well. But government has no moral or legal mandate to punish people for indulging vices. Doing so is itself a crime – and as the tragic death of Alexa Hamme illustrates, it is frequently a capital offense." Continue reading →

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Obamacare Strikes: Part-Time Jobs Surge To All Time High; Full-Time Jobs Plunge By 240,000

"As a reminder: jobs have quantity and quality components. The quantity component was good enough to convince the 10 Year the taper is imminent (if not stocks, which continue to trade dislocated from any and all fundamentals). But how about the quality? In a word: not good. In June, the household survey reported that part-time jobs soared by 360,000 to 28,059,000 - an all time record high. Full time jobs? Down 240,000. And looking back at the entire year, so far in 2013, just 130K Full-Time Jobs have been added, offset by a whopping 557K Part-Time jobs. And there is your jobs 'quality' leading to today's market euphoria (if only for now)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObamacare Strikes: Part-Time Jobs Surge To All Time High; Full-Time Jobs Plunge By 240,000

Whole milk may be better for kids than skim milk

"'We just don't see any benefit for focusing on reducing fat,' Ludwig said. 'We think it's a holdover from a paradigm that evolved in the late 20th century based on the relatively simplistic idea that fat has the most calories per gram and that eliminating fat will reduce weight gain.' Another study in the Archives of Disease in Childhood in March echoed the JAMA study and showed that children who drank lower-fat milk were more likely to be overweight later in life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhole milk may be better for kids than skim milk