Assault Weapons - Why do you need assault weapons?

When I started planning this, I really was thinking about the Second Amendment and what it means and doesn't mean.  And gun control, and what it means, and what it doesn't mean;  but most of you who are reading this already know how I feel.  I have been a tad vocal with my opinions.  So, I decided to take a different approach.  I decided to make it about the AR-15 and other assault weapons, their ammunition, and the damage they can do to the human body.

The weapon used in Newtown, Connecticut  to massacre 20 innocent first-graders and 6 equally innocent, heroically brave teachers was an AR 15 Bushwhacker, which is classified by the US government as an assault weapon.  This weapon can do a tremendous amount of damage to the human body in a very short period of time.  It is a semi automatic weapon that is the equivalent of the M-16, the workhorse of the US Military.  It can use regular .22 LR (long rifle) ammunition, or it can use the .223 ammunition used by the military.  One of the bullets this rifle can fire is the .223 Remington DRT Terminal Shock FMHP 79 Grain bullet.  Here's the  manufacturer's specifications on this ammo.  While this particular ammunition is no longer available, you can find a equatable substitute on the internet with a simple Google search

"Years of research and testing by Dynamic Research Technology (DRT) in conjunction with elite agencies world wide have created the deadliest ammunition available. This is the only ammunition used to safeguard officials and has earned the name "Dead Right There". The uniqueness of this copper-jacketed ammunition is in the compressed powder core which is as fine as talcum powder, as the bullet is fired it is spinning at such a high speed, when it reaches any part of the "target" and comes into contact with the organic tissue the hydrostatic shock of the soft material going into the hollow point actually makes the entire core projectile expand creating a fatal wound. The bullet will not pass through the "target" making it perfect for home defense or close quarter combat. Hit any part of the body to stop it dead in its tracks.   The wording is theirs, the emphasis is mine   You can read more here.

This is one class ammunition used in an AR 15.  Remember that it explodes and tumbles once it penetrates any part of the human body.  This is why the parents of the children in Newtown were advised not to see their children, and why there were few open caskets.  One child's left hand and much of his left side was blown away.  You will not survive being hit with one of these.

These are .22 Long Rifle ammunition.  They do not explode and tumble when they hit the human body.  You are much  more likely to survive a wound made by one of these.

Many people have tried to say that the AR 15 is nothing more than a regular .22 rifle that just looks ugly.  No so.  A .22 rifle, depending on whether it is a single shot, pump or bolt action, or semi-automatic will only fire as many rounds per minute as you can work the mechanism and pull the trigger.  An AR 15 can fire as many as 625 rounds per minute by "bumpfiring" , and faster than that if you convert it to fully automatic.  You can Google "AR -15 conversion kit" , but here are the full instructions, with pictures, and it looks very easy.  The kits start at about $120.  It takes less than an hour.

But you don' have to convert the AR 15 to make it perform like a fully automatic weapon.  You can bumpfire it.  I don't really know anything about bumpfiring, but I found several sites on YouTube willing to teach me how to do it.  Once you have the technique down you can learn to do it effectively with very little practice.

You can skip to about 0:41 to hear what a normal .22 sounds like.  Then he demonstrates how easy it is to change clips and starts the "how-to" instruction on bumpfiring.   At 1:53 you can see and hear just how fast this weapon can be fired.  Don't let the music put you off.  I have watched this video several times, and it is scary.  

I dare anyone to tell me he can fire a regular .22 rifle this fast.  He will damn well have to demonstrate it to me,

This is a spent .223 bullet.  Imagine this tumbling through a human body, ricocheting every time it hits something solid.  Now, imagine that human body to only be six years old.

This is a deer shot with an AR 15.  You cannot eat it.  Now imagine this is a six year old child.

These two children survived the massacre in Newtown, but their lives have been changed forever.  They have been robbed of their childhood.  They, too, are victims.

Now, tell me again why any civilian needs an AR 15 assault weapon.

And that is Miss PittyPat's rant for today.

I've Decided to Become an Ultra-Conservative

I have decided to become an ultra-conservative.  I am going to start my own ultra-conservative movement.  It is going to be so-o-o-o-o-o conservative I am going to name it the GREEN Tea Party.  One of the first proposals I am going to submit to lawmakers will outline the steps one must follow to obtain a prescription for those medications that treat and improve Erectile Dysfunction. 

I am going to ask that these requirements be mandatory and rigorously enforced.  You see, I just don't like my tax money going to pay for the outrageous antics/sex life of all those promiscuous male sluts out there.  After all, many of our conservative Tea Party have set the bar high enough to say that sex is for procreation only.

To that end, here is what I will be submitting:

1.  Males asking for a prescription for the treatment of the nefarious condition known as ED will have to present a signed, notarized statement from their urologist attesting to the fact that they do suffer from ED.   A signed, notarized statement from the wife  saying she is aware of the condition and it is interfering with her right to bear a child will be kept on file in the urologist's office and the pharmacy.  A notarized copy of a marriage license and two forms of government issued, picture IDs for both husband and wife will be kept at the urologist's office,  the OB/GYN's office and the pharmacy at all times, and made available for DEA inspection on demand.

2.  In order for the urologist to ascertain the existence of ED, and to be consistent to laws re: women's health care presently in force in several states and impending in others, the patient is required to undergo a trans-penile cystoscopy as well as a trans-rectal ultrasound of the prostate to make sure there is no underlying cause for the ED. These will be performed without anesthesia or conscious sedation as a means of ascertaining that the man really needs/wants the prescription.  If the man feels these procedures are too invasive, he can just relax and close his eyes while they are being performed.

3.  In agreement with present Arizona law, and pending legislation in other states, if the above tests, along with a complete physical examination, reveal that sexual activity and parenthood would result in a health risk for the man, the urologist is under no obligation to inform his patient of the possible consequences.  The urologist may inform the wife, who will have the sole responsibility to inform her husband.  This is in order not to worry the husband's pretty little head about these things.

4.  The patient will  need to present a handwritten, notarized statement from the wife, along with a certificate from her OB/GYN, that she is within the child-bearing years. As part of the wife's documentation there must be proof there is no physical reason she cannot have a child, such a primary infertility; secondary infertility due to past surgical procedures; or premature menopause.  We don't consider her health risks, as they are of no concern.

5.  Each time the patient needs a refill on his medication he will have to present documentation that the medical condition is ongoing and his wife has not conceived in the previous month.  His wife will have to present herself also to the pharmacy, so that the pharmacist can ascertain visually that she is not pregnant.

6.  All prescriptions for ED will become null and void in any one of the following events.

   

     A.  Any of the above required documentation is found to be fraudulent.

     B.  The wife becomes pregnant.

     C.  Either partner decides to remain celibate so as not to risk pregnancy.

     D.  Either partner becomes physically or mentally unable to achieve pregnancy.

     E.  The man is found in a compromising situation with another woman.

     F.  There is a divorce or legal separation.  I don't want to pay for some old  wannabe stud 

           running around trying to prove he still has what it takes.

   

Of course, since it is not the taxpayer's job to feed, clothe, house, or educate, children other than their own, insurance companies and businesses may choose not to provide coverage for treatment of ED.  No Government funding may be used to treat ED.

And that is Miss PittyPat's truth (rant) for the day.

On This Election, Hate Mail, and Separation of Church and State

This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. FDR in his first Inauguration Address, March 4, 1933 here

I get email all the time which has no purpose except to try and turn me against the present administration. The people who make these things up try to use fear to accomplish this. They say that the President is not a Christian, or that he is a Socialist, and now that we need to pray so we can elect a Christian President and legislators and return to our Christian roots. This one came from my brother. Here’s a quote: “This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever faced, and from the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't voting Christian values.”

This is my answer:

Dear Brother, our laws are not based on the Bible, they are based in English common law and the Hammurabi Code. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that one of the reasons for the rebellion against the King was “For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies: here

In the Declaration of Independence there is no mention of the God of Christianity, only the Creator, Divine Providence, and the Supreme Being. here Neither is the God of Christianity mentioned in the Constitution. We have freedom of religion for very good reasons. The men who wrote these awesome documents grew remembering a time when not belonging to the right church meant you could not hold office, own property, or live free and without persecution. They wanted no part of establishing a theocracy, or supporting any religious body.

Many of our Founding Fathers did not consider themselves Christians; they considered themselves Deists. In the United States, Enlightenment philosophy (which itself was heavily inspired by deist ideals) played a major role in creating the principle of religious freedom, expressed in Thomas Jefferson's letters, and the principle of religious freedom expressed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.   American Founding Fathers, or Framers of the Constitution, who were especially noted for being influenced by such philosophy include Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. Their political speeches show distinct deistic influence.

Other notable Founding Fathers may have been more directly deist. These include James Madison, possibly Alexander Hamilton, Ethan Allen and Thomas Paine (who published The Age of Reason, a treatise that helped to popularize deism throughout the USA and Europe). here

Thomas Jefferson cut all mention of miracles out of his Bible. While he was President he rarely attended church and he was never a communicant of any church. He stated many times in his letters and other papers that he believed in Nature’s God. 

James Madison wrote, in 1785, A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments to the Virginia Legislature in response to a bill that was to be voted on called “A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion” because the bill would have made it mandatory for all citizens of Virginia pay for the upkeep of those teachers. I quote, “Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects? That the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence only of his property for the support of any one establishment, may force him to conform to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever? here

We are not just a Christian nation; we are a nation of people of every religious belief found on this Earth. In praying for a 'nation based on Christianity' you are asking for a return of the Spanish Inquisition, Hitler's persecution of the Jews, the Conquistadors burning of all Aztec, Mayan, and Incan writings and the murder of these people when they resisted becoming Catholics. If you want only Christian's in office you are no better than they were, or than the Islamic radicals who don't allow any religion in their country other than Islam, and then only THEIR particular branch of Islam. 

This election is NOT about religion in any way. NOT ONE person is in danger of losing his right to worship as he pleases. It is about getting a black man with a funny name out of the oval office. If you don't think so, ask yourself which white President has been asked to produce his birth Certificate, has done so TWICE, and it still wasn't good enough, even though he was born in Hawaii to a citizen of the US.

I am praying for someone who is as honest as a President can be; who loves the United States and all its citizens; who wants to represent all citizens, not just the rich. I am praying for a President who truly believes that ALL Americans should have a dry, clean, safe place to live; believes that NO American citizen goes to bed hungry; that NO American child is denied an education; believes that ALL Americans, each and every one of them, should receive the best medical care available; that EVERY American is entitled to make a living wage, not a subsistence wage; and who believes that EVERY American should pay taxes according to his ability, even if that means the rich have endure a 3% tax increase on anything more than $1 MILLION. If he meets those criteria, that's enough. It doesn't matter if he is Mormon, Catholic, Jewish, or Buddhist, or even Islamic.

Remember, Jesus said to give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's. Sounds like separation of Church and State to me.

I am praying that God will change the mindset I see in the United States and elsewhere. I am praying for peace in this world. I am praying that people will stop the violence against their fellow man. I am praying for people who respect their fellow man, regardless of his religious preference, his sexual orientation, or the color of his skin. I want to believe this mindset change is what the Mayan calendar predicts for December 2012.

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513 as a treatise on government to Lorenzo de Medici. In it he states that the easiest way to take over the government of a country and take its wealth is to give the citizens something to fear, then promise to prevent it from happening. He states the danger you present to the people does not have to be real, just believable. He says you should throw in a war if possible. If you do these things the citizens will flock to your support, will willingly give you their money, and will give up their rights to freedom.

If you think this doesn't hold true after 600 years, think again. Because we were gullible enough to believe a President, we got involved in two illegal wars in the Middle East. The fear? Weapons of mass destruction, which didn't exist. What else did we do? We allowed that same President to spent untold trillions on these wars. We allowed him to take away almost all our rights under The Bill of Rights.

Eisenhower sent the first "Advisers" to Viet Nam in 1950. The richest Americans were being taxed at 91% of all income over $400K. The corporate tax rate was 47%, with a 30% penalty tax on excess profits. We were afraid of 'the Reds'' BTW, This was one of the booming times in our history, with inflation at 1.3% on average and unemployment at less than 3%.

Under Reagan we were afraid of the Communists, to the point we turned out backs while opium, heroin and cocaine were being exchanged for weapons in Central America. We trained Nicaraguan rebels in warfare techniques, which they took home and used against anyone who did not join the revolution. These rebels were Communists and have regained control of Nicaragua in recent elections

Under Bush I, we were afraid of Iran, and under Bush II as it was a previously stated. These wars, in my opinion were fought to gain factor with the Saudi government so that they would allow US Military bases in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen of the terrorists who attacked us in 2000 were Saudi Arabians.

Pray for the United States, it needs it. But it is not this President whom we need to fear. We need to be afraid of our willingness to give up our rights under the Constitution. We need to be afraid of the people who want to take these freedoms away from us. We need to be afraid of lawmakers who only care about corporations and the wealthiest people in our country.

I am a Christian. I was raised into a family of Christians who would not allow anything to interfere in attending church except a severe illness or death. Not even vacation. We had devotions every morning at 6:45. I say the Apostles Creed and the Catholic Declaration of Faith, The Nicene Creed, without qualms.

I also believe in the First Amendment where it says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

And that is Miss Pitty Pat's rant for today!

Meet my Stalker - Update

Stephen P. Signorelli, my cyber stalker and a self-professed pedophile (here) just couldn't restrain himself.  He just could not stay away from the underage girls in La Ceiba. 

Recently two independent sources contacted me with information that Mr. Signorelli has been fired from his job as a teacher at St. Teresa's Bilingual Bilingual School, a prestigious private school in La Ceiba, Honduras..  It would appear that he picked the wrong little girl to become interested in, because she told her mother about the manifestations of that interest.  The mother filed a complaint with school officials, accusing him of inappropriate emails, Facebook comments and behavior toward her minor child.

How stupid can he be to molest a student he was teaching.  For that matter, how stupid can can he be to molest a student at the school in which he was working?  Most animals do not defecate in the areas where they eat.

Mr. Signorelli has an annoying habit of projecting what is going on his life onto others, which makes me wonder if he was the one undergoing extensive questioning by the Honduran authorities (here).  Is this a  self-description (here)?  Could he be the one who is packing up his things because he was given 30 days to leave the country (here)?  Or, maybe it was Mr. Signorelli's house that was vandalized (here).  Who knows?  I certainly don't.

I do know that the Honduran grapevine is so efficient that if he is not being deported he is most likely  unemployable in Honduras in the private system or by a reputable NGO.  I wonder if the same will hold true in the United States, if he is being deported?  If he is being deported, then the American Embassy is aware of the situation.  In view of the recent scandals at  Penn State and other schools, surely they will not allow him to leave Honduras without somehow flagging him for law enforcement.  Given his history, they might even consider flagging him for Interpol.

Meet My Stalker

Meet my stalker. His name is Stephen P. Signorelli.  He is a 43 year old American citizen living in La Ceiba, Honduras, reportedly teaching 7th Grade at a private bi-lingual school.   I can't post from his pictures as they are copyrighted,  but I can link you to them. This what he looks like; and this is what he wishes he still looked like. 

You can go here to get some background on this person's thought processes. He started out by trying to flame someone on the Honduras Living group who posted a comment about him to which he took exception. He became angry at one of the moderators who refused to allow   his own comment because it did not conform to the group's rules on propriety. He was advised that if he reposted his comment after editing it, it would be posted. He has not done so as of yet.

He has committed identity theft, stealing my friend, La Gringa's, identity and posting comments on a news letter/newspaper which is geared to the English speaking community in Honduras. La Gringa is a well thought of, highly respected, journalist/housewife with a very popular blog which you can view here It was apparent she did not write these comments, as they were so completely the opposite of her well-known, frequently published statements about Honduran issues. The comments were traced back to him and were removed. He is blocked from posting anything else in that venue.

Here is one of the private emails he sent me. He sent this after the first couple of blog articles where he called me an old bat and a biddy. As I said before, this didn't bother me, it was true. I do have bat wings, they are under my arms. I am old, and I am over protective of my flock.

STEVE SIGNORELLI

To stonewondercloud@live.com

Soe how does it feel to have lies and bullshit posted about you and not

being allowed to refute it?

just like what the mods on the group have done to me, letting that 

"new person" post total BULLSHIT about some lie about me having some

incident with the police and a 13 year old girl......nice hit piece, I

wonder if it was steve the mod who did it? Probably, since he has to

approve every message and refuses to allow me to post to defend myself 

and point out it was total bullshit. He did it to cause me trouble at work. THANK GOD no one at work fell for it, but the FACT remains your

buddy La Gringa and Steve LET IT HAPPEN and will not retract it.

SO...Patty, I have nothing against you personally, but until that LIE 

is refuted on the group my little hilarious blog shall go on and, just 

like i cannot post on the group, no one else will post on my blog,   (The emphasis is mine. The spelling, grammar, ranting and raving are his)

PLEASE NOTE: He has nothing personal against me, he just picked me out of the crowd to harass, Obviously he thought I would beg and plead with the owner/moderators to please let him post what he wants to so he would leave me alone. Alas, he misjudged me, because I don't take to kindly to being threatened with harassment, especially when I don't have a dog in the fight; and, there isn't a chance in hell I would ask the moderators to make an exception for this piece of slime.

_____________________________________________________________

Here is my reply to him:

Thank you for accelerating your insane postings. If you think by switching to a format you must think is sarcastic humor, you have failed. Your recent comments have resulted in my getting many emails asking me WTH are you and WTF is your problem. People are now laughing, but it is at you, not with you.

What am I supposed to feel? Other than that you are a despicable, sorry excuse for a human being? The people who know me don't believe anything you have to say about me. Those who do believe anything you have to say have my pity. I have done absolutely nothing to you, except refute with facts the lies you have told and to defend my friend. I did not post my comment on HL to defend myself. Please don’t deceive yourself nor underestimate me by thinking that. I don't have to defend myself against a slug like you. I posted my comment simply to show the members of HL, in your own words, what a bold faced liar you are and how ridiculous you are. You made this personal! 

You are well aware of why you are not allowed to post on HL. And you know it is because you cannot comment in a civil fashion. You were given several chances to repost what you had to say in an acceptable manner and you chose to attack the moderator. A mature, intelligent person would have realized they made a mistake, apologized, and reposted their complaint according to the group rules. 

It appears your social growth terminated at about age 6, when most children start realizing that playing tit for tat is nonproductive and playing nice is the way mature people live in society. Life is never about getting revenge, it is about making yourself a better person. You obviously did not learn that concept, nor the ones about forgiveness of those who sin against us. You must have failed in that class that taught good manners. I know you slept through all the classes about common sense. You are the paragon of The Ugly American”.

Steve is not the only moderator for the group. When a moderator takes any action they discuss it with everyone. The moderators support each other’s decisions, especially in cases where a member insists on being vulgar, flames another member, or is inappropriate in any manner. I believe the moderators when they say you were quilty all of those things. I was a moderator at one time, and one of the things I learned is that I do not have the patience to put up with people like you.

As to the incident with the 13 year old, I read your post about the incident with my own eyes. If you were just trying to impress people, then you have no one to blame but yourself if people took you seriously. If it was true, you still have no one to blame but yourself if it came back to bite you. Most intelligent people know you never put anything on the internet you wouldn't want your mother to read.

You were bragging about raping a 13 year old child. You were bragging that she was screaming with pleasure as you were ejaculating. The truth of the matter is, if she was screaming, it was in terror and in pain, not in pleasure.  That disgusts me as a woman, as a mother of daughters, and as a trauma nurse who has had to help try and repair both the physical and the emotional trauma of rape. It is both frightening and disgusting that you have access to children in your workplace. I am eternally grateful I have no children in a school that would employ you ............................(Several paragraphs omitted. I will produce them if you contact me privately)

So, if it makes you feel good to post lies about me, go right ahead. It just makes you look like what you really are, despicably, childishly, ignorant, cowardly, ugly, vile, slimy, unworthy, worthless, wretched bully. Other than that, you're okay.

BTW, my email is for my friends. You are not my friend.

(Read Here for the details of this sexual assault, but be warned, it is ugly.  I don't know if he was blowing smoke or he was telling the truth, but he has admitted he wrote it. You can see where others are discussing his predilections. There is more Here if you really want to read the smut.)

_____________________________________________________________

There is a report that Mr. Signorelli actually cut a plea bargain and plead guilty to statutory rape.  I found this on the internet here.  You have to click on "Show quoted text" and then scroll down the page to find this:

Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling

Date: 1999/04/11

4/21/99: Avenger aka Stephen Signorelli pleads guilty to statutory rape:

Barnegat man accepts plea bargain in underage sex case April 21 1999 - Barnegat

NJ

A Barnegat man pleaded no contest to charges that he had sexual relations with

a thirteen-year-old girl. In a plea bargain on Monday, Stephen Signorelli, 31,

pleaded no contest to one count of statutory rape and one count of sodomy in an

Ocean County criminal court. The girl, identified in court documents only as

"Jane Doe", testified that she met Signorelli in an internet chat room hosted

by the online service America Online in November of last year. The two

reportedly met on Christmas Eve for sexual relations in the home Signorelli

shares with his mother. A sentencing hearing will be held on May 15, where the

district attorney is expected to ask that Signorelli be sent to a mental

hospital for evaluation before being placed under house arrest and fitted with

a tracking device. Signorelli's court-appointed attorney produced evidence from

Signorelli's therapist that Signorelli is "emotionally incapacitated" and would

be unable to cope with a jail sentence. In exchange for the plea of no contest,

prosecutors dropped two other counts of statutory rape based on an incident

reported by the girl where she claimed to have engaged in a sexual encounter

with Signorelli and her 11-year-old friend. The friend was unwilling to

testify.
_____________________________________________________________

I have had several emails from Mr Signorelli, consisting in one way or another of his laughing and prancing around the page saying "I win," like a child, but the one that took me from amused to furious was this one:

Subject: Re: how does it feel?

From: steve4nj@gmail.com

To: stonewondercloud@live.com

L TO THE O TO THE L

you keep dancing for me. dance more puppet!

hows vickie? (Emphasis is mine, grammar is his.)

________________________________________________________________

For those who don't know, vickie (sic) is my teenage granddaughter.  While I know he wrote this with the intention of scaring me or goading me into saying something rash, again he underestimated me.  I do not scare easily, I do get angry, but rarely do I  say or do something rash.

I cannot say with 100% accuracy this man is a pedophile,  because I have no documented proof, yet; but the operative word is YET!  Considering what he has written about himself,  I don't want my beloved grandchild's name in his mouth.

Here is what I do have:

1. The comment he made himself about his sexual experiences with a child.

2. What looks like a newspaper report of his plea bargain to a sexual offense,

3. He goes to Prague for 9 years, where he is reportedly teaching school. The Czech Republic is in the middle of the Eastern Bloc sex trade, and the sex trade there is notorious for providing underage children to its clients.

               

4.  He returns to the US and settles near Orlando, where he reportedly worked at Universal Studios.  What a heaven for someone who reportedly likes children.

5.  Now he shows up in Honduras, where unprincipled people advertise openly that they can fulfill your every fantasy, and he is teaching school.

If you can stomach it, just Google Mr. Signorelli and see what you come up with.

That is Miss PittyPats Truth for the day.

.

Myth: The United States Cannot Afford to Insure Its Citizens

This started as a debate on FB with a cousin of mine about how to stimulate the economy and create jobs, then it moved to taxation and spending, and then I decided I should blog about the myths the Conservative Right wants you to believe. While doing some research, I came up on some facts about Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates, and the more I read, the more I found these statistics relevant to the discussion at hand. Here I am focused on Pre- and Postnatal Health, but there is more, and I am angry.

According to Business Pundit, the six countries with the the highest taxes in the world are these: Belgium has the highest marginal tax rate on average workers at 54%; followed by Finland, 46%; Germany, 45%; Denmark, 44.4%; Italy, 43%; and France, 40% on average wages and 50% on highest wages. 

The six countries with the lowest tax rates are Switzerland, 20%; United States, 27%; Australia, 31.5%; Canada, 31.2%; United Kingdom, 32% and Japan, 33%. Even at 33% marginal tax on average wages Japan is considered to have one of the lowest tax rates in the world, and our taxes are lower than theirs. 

Note where the US is on that list, we are in the bottom six.   Note that ALL these countries have high standards of living, and all but one offers womb to tomb benefits for its citizens. Want to bet which country doesn't?

One method used to evaluate a country's standing in the world is it's Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). It is also used as an indicator in assessing the quality and the availability of overall health care to a country's citizens. Guess where we are on THAT list? 

According to the United Nations World Population Prospects Report we are 34th in the world in infant mortalities. That is a SHAMEFUL statistic for one of the richest nations in the world; in a country whose leaders try to tell us we have the best medical care in the world; in a country where people are being told we don't need to provide health care.

Even more embarrassing is the CIA World Fact Book lists our IMR at 46th in the world here and here. Yes, That CIA.  What these figures mean to us is 6 out of every thousand children born in the United States in 2011 died before the age of 1 year. Cuba has a better survival rate than we do, as does Croatia, even in the face of genocide. 33-45 countries lose fewer babies every year than we do, depending on which report you read. This is unacceptable.

High IMR's can be directly attributed to poverty and poor pre- and postnatal care for baby and Mom. They are a direct result of poor prenatal nutrition for mothers, as are many birth defects.

So, whose babies are more likely to die? The very poor have recourse in Medicaid, free maternity clinics and other resources. The working poor, those who work full time, sometimes two jobs, make too much money to qualify for public assistance and not enough to pay for insurance or prenatal care. Rarely do their jobs offer health insurance. Mothers tend to show up on the doorsteps of the ER in full blown labor. They are delivered by doctors who have no prenatal history to rely on and have no clue of the risk factors at hand. There are sometimes some really nasty surprises for the medical team.  I've been there, done that.

The new poor are your neighbor who lost his job, and then his home. He is your co-worker whose unemployment has run out. He is one of the 15.3 million unemployed citizens of our country who cannot find a job. He has no insurance, He and his pregnant wife are not eating, so that their children can. She, too, is unlikely to receive adequate prenatal care. She, too, is likely to deliver prematurely, have an underweight baby, or a baby with a neural tube or other defect which affects the viability of the newborn. 

High rates of maternal deaths occur in the same countries that have high rates of infant mortality, reflecting generally poor nutrition and medical care. In some studies the US is ranked 39th in 181 countries, which translates into 16.6 out of 100,000 births as of 2008.

According to CNN, deaths from pregnancy and childbirth in the United States have doubled in the past 20 years. About 1.7 million women a year, one-third of pregnant women in the United States, suffer from pregnancy-related complications. Most of the deaths and complications occur among minorities and women living in poverty. Most of these tragedies are preventable. Another unacceptable fact for the United States. 

That same source quotes Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA as saying, "Good maternal care should not be considered a luxury available only to those who can access the best hospitals and the best doctors. Women should not die in the richest country on earth from preventable complications and emergencies" As a woman, a nurse, and as an American citizen, I wholeheartedly agree. (Emphases are mine) 

So, what can we do? Many of these problems can be eliminated by implementing the Universal Health Care Act. Insuring that everyone, regardless of socio-economic status, has adequate health care will benefit everyone. Sweden, Finland and Norway have the 4th, 5th, and 6th lowest IMRs in the world. They also lead in maternal health, longevity, and other health parameters. I would say theirs are the models we should be examining, not those of Canada and the UK, although their stats are still better than ours.

The next time someone tries to convince you the country cannot afford the Universal Health Care Act, think about this and tell them that we cannot afford not to implement it. Even one preventable death is one too many.

That's Miss PittyPat's truth for today.

It's STILL a Christmas Tree and the First Daughters DO Get Christmas Presants

I hate to upset my 'Conservative Right' (read Republican/Tea Party) friends, but the White House Christmas Trees are STILL Christmas trees, and there has never been, and still aren't, any plans to change the names.  There is a video showing this year's White House Christmas Tree arriving on a horse-drawn carriage complete with a carriage driver wearing a top hat.  Note it is from USA today.  The video was shown on all three major networks and, believe it or not, Faux News. 

The First Lady and Daughters are seen receiving the White House Christmas Tree in this picture that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and at least 305 other newspapers.  The sign on the side of the carriage clearly states White House Christmas Tree, 2011.

Courtesy of the Christian Science Monitor

If you are interested, you can check the facts at Snopes.com and at Factcheck.org

The President and the First Lady wished All American citizens a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in his weekly address to the nation on December 25th, 2010.

The misunderstanding seem to come from the Bush era, when Mrs. Bush began sending out ornaments to States and various other organizations and asking them to decorate the ornaments and return them to Washington to be put on the CAPITOL Christmas Tree.  In 2007, the accompanying information packet  to the organizations clearly states, and I quote:  "Ornaments with religious themes are not acceptable." In 2008, the criteria stated ♦  "Ornaments cannot reflect a religious or political theme."

The criteria has since been changed, and religious themes are acceptable.  But, PLEASE NOTE, this criteria was in place during the BUSH administration, not the OBAMA administration.

The Grinch does not steal Christmas at the White House.  The same people who spread the above misinformation  also bring you the misinformation that the First Daughters do not receive Christmas presents.  They quote a seven page interview of the President and Mrs. Obama in People Magazine in 2008.  What the President actually said was that he leaves the gift giving to Santa.  First Daughter Malia is quoted as saying, "I know there is a Santa because there’s no way you’d buy me all that stuff.” In US Magazine, Mrs. Obama is quoted as saying she gives better Christmas presents than the President.

Then you hear that the President said we were not a Christian country.  What he actually said is that we are no longer ONLY a Christian country, and whether you like it or not, that is true.  We are a country of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and a multitude of other religions.

Our Founding Fathers had experienced the effects of government interference in religious practice and thought it important enough to make it the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Thomas Jefferson thought his greatest achievement was not the Constitution of the United States, The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Jefferson and many of the other great men of his time did not think of themselves as Christians, but rather as Deists, and believed in "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God…." I will probably blog about that at a later date, but if you research the writings of the time it becomes evident.

Finally, it does not matter what religion a President professes. He doesn't have to have a religion. He is guaranteed the right to think and believe what he chooses under the Constitution of the United States of America. Just like for any other American, it is unconstitutional to make adherence to any specific religion a condition for the job.

And THAT is Miss Pitty Pat's truth for the day.