Brownie Bites for July 30, 2008

Did you hear about the evangelist who killed his wife, dumped her in the freezer, and later preached a sermon at a church service? Anthony Hopkins was leading a revival service at a church in Jackson, Alabama, but was stopped by police after his eldest daughter talked to them. Somehow, I doubt that he was preaching on the sixth commandment.

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The Hill has published their fifth annual list of the 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill. Because outward beauty is what's most truly important in Washington.

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At some point in our lives, my wife, one of my sisters, and I worked at Grandview Hospital in Dayton, OH. I realize that many hospitals want to be "cutting-edge" in some respect, but I didn't know that Grandview is taking it to a whole new level. The hospital is utilizing something called "'Wiihabilitation,' the latest trend in rehabilitation therapy that uses the interactive mobility of the Nintendo Wii video game system to help patients improve strength, flexibility, balance and endurance."

We've come so far from the days of that old tennis game on the Atari 2600.

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The Cute One is obsessed with this dude. I'm wondering if I should chalk it up as a harmless crush, or be worried.

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I'm a straight man who enjoys watching Project Runway, so I have to announce this: the show's breakout star, Tim Gunn, wasn't paid a dime for his work on the first season. He only received $2500 an episode for the second season (which remains my favorite). This is surprising, given how necessary he is to the show's ability to work. He probably didn't agree to a paycheck because (1) he's a genuinely nice guy and (2) he had no idea the show would prove to be such a hit.

incentives for reducing health insurance premiums

Bill Corley, CEO of Community Health Network, has an editorial letter in yesterday's edition of the Indianapolis Star. Several years ago, CHN implemented mandatory health assessments for employees who chose to have health insurance. CHN offered incentives for those who scored high on the health assessments, including as much as a $50 reduction in biweekly premiums.

This has worked very well, and I've seen that many other companies, not just those in the health field, have taken this approach. I'm quite certain it will be implemented in some form if a national healthcare program becomes reality.

“I don’t know which was worse, being told that I had cancer or finding that I could not get insurance.”

The people living in the "poor" or "bad" sections of town aren't the only ones without health insurance. Your neighbor in your "middle-class" community might be without it as well. Or, it might even be you.

Ms. Readling, a 50-year-old real estate agent, is one of nearly 47 million people in America with no health insurance.

Increasingly, the problem affects middle-class people like Ms. Readling, who said she made about $60,000 last year. As an independent contractor, like many real estate agents, Ms. Readling does not receive health benefits from an employer. She tried to buy a policy in the individual insurance market, but — having had cancer — could not obtain coverage, except at a price exceeding $27,000 a year, which was more than she could pay. (NYTimes)

why I don't link to World Net Daily

Because the site has ridiculous articles like this one. The title is kinda catchy, don't you think? I didn't realize the Devil cares so much about what we eat.

The dangerous food I'm speaking of is soy. Soybean products are feminizing, and they're all over the place. You can hardly escape them anymore.

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If you're a grownup, you're already developed, and you're able to fight off some of the damaging effects of soy. Babies aren't so fortunate. Research is now showing that when you feed your baby soy formula, you're giving him or her the equivalent of five birth control pills a day. A baby's endocrine system just can't cope with that kind of massive assault, so some damage is inevitable. At the extreme, the damage can be fatal.

Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products. (Most babies are bottle-fed during some part of their infancy, and one-fourth of them are getting soy milk!) Homosexuals often argue that their homosexuality is inborn because "I can't remember a time when I wasn't homosexual." No, homosexuality is always deviant. But now many of them can truthfully say that they can't remember a time when excess estrogen wasn't influencing them.

The article, written by someone who is not in a medical or health-related field, fails to cite any specific research to support its claims.

Mickey doesn't want you - or your kids - to be fat

Disney is limiting the amount of fat and calories in its packaged foods. (Photo by Reuters)

Isn't that nice to know? It would truly be impressive, however, if it limited the amount of dollars it costs to get into the parks. Then we'd be talking about something extremely good...

Hospital comparisons

I must credit Joshua Claybourn and his blog, In the Agora, for keying me into a website called "Hospital Compare," brought to us by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. At the hospital where I work, we are always talking about "best practices" and the most effective to serve our patients/clients. I must say though, I do not believe hospitals should be in competition with each other, because then they may care more about the Almighty Dollar and "bringing the bling-bling in" instead of focusing on patient care.

So far, the only conditions that the site cares about in regards to hospitals around Indianapolis are heart attack care, heart failure care, and pneumonia care. Hopefully in the future they will offer more conditions of concern.

7 eggs and 3 pigs for breakfast

Burger King has unveiled its new breakfast sandwich, the Enormous Omelet Sandwich. Apparently, they have decided that their lunch-time and meal-time fare is just too healthy, and so they have unloaded this monster. Guess how many hours you'll need to spend at the gym if you eat this to start your morning....