Literate cities lean liberal

Here's something of note. A listing of the most literate and least literate cities in the U.S.

Something that pops out at me is the political leanings of the most literate cities: They tend to support Democrats and lean liberal.

Something to be said for reading and political affiliation.

Interestingly, least literate cities tend to be in Texas or California with one exception: Hialeah, Florida.

U.S. health care has a fatal structural flaw - profit over people

The author of this article is obviously against a single-payer system in health care.

She obviously wishes to scare everyone with the title to the article.

However, she makes a good point at the end by begging us to ask the hard questions.

Here are some hard question for the author to answer.

Is it better to have rationed health care or no health care? Too many people are without health insurance and they can't afford it either.

Does it make sense for us to have the best health care system in the world if only a small percentage of our population can participate in it?

Our health care system has a fundamental flaw. The profit motive.

Profit is not a panacea and to place people's lives at risk for profit is immoral.

So as a last hard question: What's more important, people or profit?

Single-payer system places people above profit, while our current system values bottom-lines.

Health care reform should never be about profit because that's basically placing a dollar value on lives.

Saltsman is an idiot...apparently the appropriate choice to lead the RNC

Here's why I constanty wring my hands over the state of politics in Tennessee.

Apparently, this Republican from Nashville, Chip Saltsman, is running for the RNC Chair.

In a fit of parochial idiocy, Saltsman sent a CD containing a song entitled "Barack the Magic Negro".

Of course Rush Limbaugh is all over this accusing the liberal media of applying a double standard because they supposedly supported Gangster Rapper Ice-T when he released a song called "Cop Killer".

Saltsman gives Tennessee a bad name. His asinine decision reflects poorly on Tennessee painting an image of us to the world as backward hicks. Thanks Chip for destroying any progress the state has made in repairing our image to the rest of the world. Chip is apparently unaware or at least oblivious to the fact that the KKK was born not 80 miles from Nashville.

Let's straighten something out about the Ice-T issue: Americans are by history anti-establishment. "Cop Killer" was an honest response reflecting the irritation certain communities had with the establishment as represented by the police.

Saltsman's idiocy, even if the song was not technically a slur against the President-Elect, did carry the stain of racism by virtue of its title.

The song was sent in a wink-wink sort of way with an eye toward laughing as a result of racial issues associated with it. THAT'S THE PROBLEM!

Not the intent behind it. Few are accusing Saltsman of being a racist. He's just an insensitive boob without any sense of history or discretion.

The bozos on the Right deserved to lose and they'll end up longer in the wilderness for lining up behind Saltsman's foolishness.

I'll say it again: Thanks Saltsman. Thanks RNC. Thanks right-wing morons for making us all look bad to the world.