Some Thoughts About Health Care A blog reader sent me this letter: Amy: I am not asking for advice, but after reading your blog, I thought I would share my experience concerning doctors and insurance for you to ponder. If the thought of reading a lengthy email is turning your stomach, just skip down to the... »

On Basketball And Boobs And The Biggest Dick In The World Nancy Rommelmann should check with me before she posts blog items, because I find her writing and thinking irresistible. This is a problem if I'm on deadline, as I am today, because I drop what I'm doing and go read her. Loved this piece... »

Understanding Islam "Religion of peace"? Not exactly. Although there are Muslims who don't practice their religion as a form of violence, as it's directed by the Quran, which is meant to be taken literally, that's exactly what it is. There's a lot of creepy stuff in the Bible (and I'm no fan of the evidence-free... »

Burka Barbie! From the Daily Mail, among the 500 Barbies on sale in a charity auction are a few Barbies in Burkhas: Makers Mattel are backing the exhibition which is the work of Italian designer Eliana Lorena. The good stuff is below the article, in the comments: will burka barbie not be allowed out of the toybox... »

Unbelievable Abuse Of Power John Murtha, dictator: »

Fox & Friends I'll be on Fox & Friends Sunday morning (around 6:50 am, PST, I think) to comment on holiday rudeness, in connection with my new book, I See Rude People. (Please order yours if you haven't already!) Check your local listings here. Pssst! can somebody do me a wee favor and record it? I... »

Vote Your Melanin! Apparently, all black people are supposed to vote alike. Who does this icky thinking come from? None other than Jesse Jackson, who went after Alabama Congressman Artur Davis as a race traitor for going against the health care bill. From the WSJ: "We even have blacks voting against the health-care bill," said Mr.... »

ACORN And The Underage Sex Trafficking Project International sex trafficking project in the works? We're ACORN, how can we help you? From BigGovernment. Part One: Part Two: Here's how this was reported by the LA Times' James Rainey. reason's cavanaugh writes: Back when the still-unfolding ACORN hidden camera story started breaking, Rainey condemned the conservative media's... »

The Price Of A Ham Sandwich Has Also Gone Up Like everything else, education costs more, especially in California. The LA Times blogs that students are protesting over increases in the costs of a UC education: A University of California Board of Regents committee today approved a series of controversial increases in student fees that, if... »

Hot Off Hot Air Did a great half hour radio show about my book and rudeness in general yesterday, with Hot Air's Ed Morrissey, who asked great questions, which made for what I think is a very interesting piece. Here's a link to the piece on Hot Air, and here's the show below. (To listen... »

They're Calling It "The Botax" Going in for new boobs and the like? The government is aiming to lift and separate you from your money -- taxing cosmetic surgery in the health care "reform" bill. From law prof William A. Jacobson, blogging at Legal Insurrection: Harry Reid and his Democratic band of friends want to... »

The Mammogram Controversy WaPo overview here. Great science-based take on it from cancer surgeon David Gorski over at Science Based Medicine. An excerpt: First and foremost, what matters is the woman being screened, what she values, and what her tolerance is for paying the price of screening at an earlier age, such as a high risk for... »

Today's Blog Items Coming Soon! Burning candle at both ends and the middle...last night, I went to blog, but was so tired, I felt like somebody'd hit me over the head with a frying pan, and I instead went to bed for a whole eight hours -- for a change. Feel free to discuss whatever you... »

Dump Her, Get Dumped In Prison Lori Pilger, on journalstar.com, tells the story of a man, unwittingly entrapped by a vengeful ex into sex with a girl who turned out to be a minor. Sickeningly, he just got eight to 15 years in prison -- the price of being fooled plus having a past criminal... »

The ME! ME! ME! Generation, Top Down At root of manners is empathy, and at root of empathy is recognizing that there are other people in the world. Because of my book on rudeness, I'm talking about this a lot, and I was struck by a piece by the Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby on the... »

Black (And Blue) Friday I consider it the most hideous day of the year -- the day when people race to the stores to scream, yell, and shove their way to a few dollars in savings (that is, until the credit card bill comes, at 26 or so percent interest). I talked to Ron, the cool... »

Today's "I See Rude People" Quote A sorta daily feature. This is from Chapter Two of my book, I SEE RUDE PEOPLE: One woman's battle to beat some manners into impolite society: Yes, I'm aware that you have mascara, liquid eyeliner, and five shades of gray eyeshadow to apply. But, see that guy in the... »

Hey, GM, We Aren't Drooling Morons! Lovely. GM is going to use government loans to...pay back government loans! From AP/MSNBC: GM lost $1.2 billion for the third quarter -- far less than the $6 billion it lost in the first three months of the year, before GM was transformed by a stay in bankruptcy protection. The... »

My Health Care Doesn't Need "Reform," Thanks! I got a call yesterday, in the middle of a really crazy day. As you'll read in my book, my friends all know not to call me on my deadline days, so I'm always surprised when my phone rings on a Monday or a Tuesday. Well, this was... »

Seven Salient Facts About Major Hasan Most have already been brought out here (by me or by people commenting here), but the piece at Slate by Hitchens is worth reading. An excerpt from Hitchens' analysis following his list: What about the emphasis on Hasan's supposedly knife-edge mental state? Well, even supposing it to have been... »