Tragedies like this we don't need

Doctor: Lack of medical helicopter cost actress

NEW YORK – As a steady stream of celebrities pay their last respects to Natasha Richardson, questions are arising over whether a medical helicopter might have been able to save the ailing actress.

The province of Quebec lacks a medical helicopter system, common in the United States and other parts of Canada, to airlift stricken patients to major trauma centers. Montreal's top head trauma doctor said Friday that may have played a role in Richardson's death.

"It's impossible for me to comment specifically about her case, but what I could say is ... driving to Mont Tremblant from the city (Montreal) is a 2 1/2-hour trip, and the closest trauma center is in the city. Our system isn't set up for traumas and doesn't match what's available in other Canadian cities, let alone in the States," said Tarek Razek, director of trauma services for the McGill University Health Centre, which represents six of Montreal's hospitals.

I live in a small town in Pennsylvania. There is a trauma center nearby. Helicopters fly in and out of there all of the time. Perhaps the outcome would have been the same here. But, there are those who want to have a healthcare system like Canada's. No thanks.

The outrage is interesting

Listening to the news this morning about the AIG bailout and the paying of bonuses, I was reminded of something Jesus said to the Pharisees:

Matthew 23:24 (New Living Translation)
24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel

The Congress gave AIG over $100 Billion (with a B). The bonuses paid out was over $100 Million (with an M). That is 1/10th of one percent. This is like getting upset if you give someone in need $10 and they put a penny in a slot machine. Yes, they shouldn't throw the money away like that, but let's be real. How is the other 99.9 % of the money being spent?

Plus, where is the outrage about the amount of money AIG contributed to members of Congress as campaign contributions? Senator Dodd and former Senator Obama (now our most holy President) head the list.

It is time to get real and stop all these bailouts. Cut government spending. Make Congress tighten their belts. Reduce taxes and we will see the economy take off.

A moral hazard

Should we look to kings and princes to put right the inequalities between rich and poor? Should we require soldiers to come and seize the rich person's gold and distribute it among his destitute neighbors? Should we beg the emperor to impose a tax on the rich so great that it reduces them to the level of the poor and then to share the proceeds of that tax among everyone? Equality imposed by force would achieve nothing, and do much harm. Those who combined both cruel hearts and sharp minds would soon find ways of making themselves rich again. Worse still, the rich whose gold was taken away would feel bitter and resentful; while the poor who received the gold from the hands of soldiers would feel no gratitude, because no generosity would have prompted the gift. Far from bringing moral benefit to society, it would actually do moral harm. Material justice cannot be accomplished by compulsion, a change of heart will not follow. The only way to achieve true justice is to change people's hearts first -- and then they will joyfully share their wealth. - St. John Chysostom

These words were attributed to St. John Chrysostom in the book "On Living Simply" combiled by Robert Van de Weyer. Unfortunately, Mr. Van de Weyer did not provide the citation and I have not been able to find exactly where this quote came from. Nevertheless, whether St. John Chysostom actually said these words or not, I find them to be very powerful. If I didn't know better, I would say he must have been reading today's newspapers. Wealth redistribution is the theme of the day. I think we should heed his words, "Far from bringing moral benefit, it would actually do moral harm." Stealing is stealing, no matter who does it, a person or the state.

A whole lot of shakin' going on

Thought for the day:

Hebrews 12:25-29:

25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:

26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

29 For our God is a consuming fire.


The world as we know it is being shaken. The "change we can believe in", promised by our President, is shaking the very foundations of our society. The stock market is tanking. People are losing their jobs and their retirement funds. The age of Obama is getting off to a miserable start. (I won't say I told you so.)

So what is happening? To put it simply, those who built there house upon the sand are being shaken to the core of their being. Those who built their house upon the rock (Christ Jesus) will be able to withstand the winds that are blowing and the earth that is shaking.

Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy.