If Say Uncle can post a picture of his dog so can I.

Isn't he precious?

Update: My wife thinks I am retarded for posting a picture of my dog. I think she's jealous.

Titled: Status of Current Firearms Related Legislation

The new Michigan Legislature has two years to complete passage of bills before a new Legislature takes office in 2007. It is not unusual that bills from the previous session that were not given favorable treatment would reappear in this session. As of the date of this writing, three old anti-rights bills and one much-needed bill have been introduced.

More about those bills here.

Titled: NHS could refuse patients who will not mend ways

Patients who refuse to change their unhealthy lifestyles could be refused medical treatment, under proposals from the Government's NHS watchdog.

The controversial suggestion from the National Institute of Healthcare and Clinical Excellence would mean that a smoker in need of heart surgery might be denied the operation unless he or she promised to give up the habit.

The proposal is contained in a document which sets out for the first time the social values that should underpin decisions by the institute on which treatments to provide on the NHS.

It says all patients should be treated equally regardless of their age or social responsibilities and rules out discrimination on the grounds of gender, race or socio-economic status.

The only exception should be where a patient's age might affect the chances of success of the treatment. "Health should not be valued more highly in some age groups rather than others," it says. On self inflicted illness - that caused by "unhealthy lifestyles", such as casual sex, smoking, drinking or dangerous sports - it rejects the idea of "deservedness" in deciding who should receive treatment and says it would be impossible in many cases to determine which illnesses were self-inflicted.

It adds: "If the self-inflicted causes of the condition influence the likely outcome ... of an intervention, it may be appropriate to take this into account." A spokesman admitted there was a "grey area" between denying treatment on clinical grounds, because a patient might not benefit from it, and "blackmailing" them to change their behaviour in line with medically accepted health norms.

Let this serve as a warning for Americans. This is what national health care will get us. If or when it is put into place it will not take very long for the bureaucratic bean counters to determine that it is certain life styles that are driving up the costs of health care. Therefore anyone who doesn't live up to their standards of good health will be refused or forced to pay a very high premium. Some of you may be OK with that but I'm not. Those of us who take personal responsibility seriously better be able to opt out and have the option to make our own medical choices. And don't even get me started on the huge cost to taxpayers such a system will be.

Titled: Gore Group to Start Cable Channel as Youth Forum

A cable channel recently acquired by an investment group led by Al Gore is to relaunch Aug. 1 under the name Current, hoping to generate much of its content from viewers.

The former vice president and his partners, including entrepreneur Joel Hyatt, are taking an unconventional approach to TV programming in hopes of attracting viewers aged 18 to 34. That demographic, heavily sought by advertisers, has become difficult for TV networks and newspapers to reach.

Messrs. Gore and Hyatt say they hope young people will use the channel as a forum to express their opinions on news and current events. Viewers will be invited to submit short films, documentaries and home videos to be aired on the channel.

Isn't that what the Internet is for?

In an interview Friday, Mr. Gore said the goal of Current is to connect "the Internet generation with television in a brand new way." Its Web site will be a key part of its service, listing topics on which it wants material, such as reviews of movies, CDs or videogames; items on social trends; and advocacy journalism. Current will pay $250 for videos it airs.

Oh. They thought of that already.

Current will provide a fair amount of its own programming, at least initially, said programming chief David Neuman, a veteran television executive who most recently was a consultant for Time Warner Inc.'s CNN. Mr. Neuman said the channel has hired hosts for different segments. While Current primarily will be a news and information channel, he described it as closer to MTV and VH1 than Fox News and MSNBC.

You know that is what I was thinking. It sounds like an MTV rip off. It will be interesting to see where this goes but I have a feeling that they are going to be preaching to the choir (also) the way MTV does and there will not be much appeal outside of those who are already converts for leftist ideologies. My guess is that it will be nothing more then the cable version of Air America and just as successful.

Kevin from Always Low Prices, which features both positive and negative news items concerning Wal-Mart, is being "asked" by Wal-Mart to stop using their slogan on his site, which by the way he has been using for over a year now. Anyway he is reaching out to the Blogosphere to ask for some help/advice in how to respond. If you are such a person or know such a person he would like to talk to you.

I don't have comments turned on for this Blog but you can always put your two cents worth in at the Liberty 1st forum found here. Registration is required.

1. Zendo Deb has a few things to say about the U.N. and its record on human rights.
2. Say Uncle wastes his time making rational arguments about gun control to irrational people.
3. David Hardy has an interesting post about the 2nd Amendment, the 14th Amendment and individual rights.
4. Bruce found some New England Patriots along the southern border of the United States.
5. Denise has this on Democrats getting rid of gun control. 

Today I ran into the Michigan Coordinator for the Michigan Chapter of the Second Amendment Sisters. I was reminded of what a great origination that is. If you are interested you can find out more about them from their main site or if you are from Michigan you can check out the Michigan Chapter here.

I love their Mission Statement. So simple yet so powerful.

"Second Amendment Sisters, Inc. is a women's advocacy group dedicated to promoting the basic human right to self-defense, as recognized by the Second Amendment.

We believe in personal responsibility, education, and enforcement of laws against violent criminals."

I ran across a new Blog, well new to me, called "Of Arms & the Law." It looks like its going to be a great resource for those of us interested in the the preserving the 2nd Amendment. This post "A complete understanding of the Second Amendment" is a great place to start. Read it.

Do you use the Firefox browser? If so you may want to check out Fire Tune. Its a free application that will optimize your browser for you. I didn't try the before and after test so I can't verify any difference it may have made.