J.J. Jackson

UPMC’s Taking Snit With Highmark Out On Patients?

In the Greater Pittsburgh area, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is well known. Sometimes, however, it is not known for the best of reasons. While UPMC has many good doctors that work for it and is known for good quality care, it is also often cursed for what it has done. For years and years UPMC has been gobbling up as many regional hospitals and doctor’s offices under its own banner as it can.

What Really Happened In Ludlow And That The Unions Won’t Tell You

Well, as is typical every Labor Day holiday, and when I point out sad but true things about organized labor, I get hit with the emails howling in protest over my “assault” on the “working class”. Of course by “working class” these emailers really mean union workers because, as we all know, no one else, such as myself, works here in America right? Oh please, spare me.

No Number Of Broken Windows Can Save Us

I know it was predictable. But it is still pathetic. In the wake of Hurricane Irene ripping up the East Coast, although much, much weaker than was predicted, there are people salivating about how the billions in damage may provide a spark for the sluggish U.S. economy. I really wish I knew how many more times we have to suffer through this sort of tripe from people who obviously have never bothered to learn anything of importance except how to pound on keys and produce idiocy.

Shh, Don’t Tell Anyone.  Obama Is Increasing The Cost Of Going To School

I have a secret to tell you. But you cannot tell it to anyone if I tell it to you. Do you understand? Because I am super serious about how secret this secret is. Ok, good. Now come closer. No, no, closer. No one else can overhear this.

Beware The Mexican Strawberries?

I get into a lot arguments with conservatives over very non-conservative causes they believe in. For some reason there are just some conservatives who do not have a problem with certain unconstitutional acts. And just like liberals do, they all sorts of ways to justify their support for said heinous things. You know, like how Ron Paul finds ways to justify requesting earmarks for his district while simultaneously claiming to be against earmarks.

Welcome to the New Weimar Republic: The Involatile Laws Of Economics

Liberals like to think the laws of economics are like the laws of physics. In physics, particles behave differently on the subatomic level than they do in the macroscopic realm. This is because as one gets smaller and smaller, different forces become dominant and take control of how particles interact with one another thus leading to sometimes counterintuitive solutions. This is why there is an entire field of physics, called quantum mechanics, to deal with this special situation.

Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Doyle Comes Out Of His Shell

If you have never heard of Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), you would not be alone. He is the sort of guy that does not run out in front of the microphones to give his opinion on much of anything. He also rarely crafts legislation of any sort of pressing importance. For example, right now Mr. Doyle has two pieces of legislation pending in Congress. The first is the “Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2011”. I know, the economy is in shambles, President Obama is fiddling while America burns, citizens are sucking down their ninety-nine weeks of unemployment and Mr. Doyle’s focus is on “pet safety”. Do not try to understand him. You never will. And do not try to understand the thinking of the forty-four co-sponsors of this legislation either considering it is so extra-constitutional that only a nut job would even nibble at it much less bite.

Truth Versus The Politics of Washington

Who has the answer to the freewheeling, high spending ways of Washington? Is it Rep. Paul Ryan? Nope. Is it Speaker John Boehner? Nope. Is it Harry Reid? Please! Don’t make me laugh! Is it President Obama? Come on, you are not even using the brains God gave a turnip if you suggest such.

The Left Wing Circular Firing Squad

Liberals have set themselves up for failure primarily because, as the rest of us all know, liberalism does not work. The fact that liberalism does not work stuns liberals. They disbelieve this fact because they so religiously believe in liberalism. And as liberalism fails, every piece of it falls like dominoes because liberals always align themselves into a circular firing squad.

How Do You Know When Government Has Gotten Too Big?

No, I do not ask the question without knowing the answer. Government is too big when the lack of government actually prevents people from living their lives. Our founding fathers wanted government to be there to protect people from encroachments to their lives, liberties and pursuits of happiness. When government instead turns from protector of these rights to an arbiter of how we must go about enjoying them is when things go all wonky.

How Will Liberals Convince Young People To Keep Contributing?

You think federal government ponzi schemes like Social Security and Medicare are in trouble now? Just you wait! Mark my words. To all of you out there who are banking on getting nice checks every month from Washington DC or having your health care paid for in your old age, I have one suggestion for you. Start making alternate plans now.

Silliness About Who Has To Give Up Their Day Jobs

Let’s think about something here. With the 2012 Presidential election already upon us, half way through 2011, several candidates have already declared their intention to run on the GOP side of the ticket. Prior to declaring however, many of them were forced to divest themselves of their day jobs because of silly rules put in place by Washington politicians and bureaucrats.

Things Gleaned From The CNN Republican Debate

As I sat Monday night, pen and paper in hand, marking my impressions of the responses given by the various GOP contenders for President as they were asked questions, I took some things away from the debate that I would like to share with you now.

You Don’t Have To Accept The Choices Your Masters Give You

An old parable goes as follows: A farmer from a small village was in debt to a notoriously crooked moneylender who just so happened to have a fond eye for his daughter. Of course she had no interest in him however. The moneylender pleaded with the farmer to convince his daughter to marry him, but the farmer refused.

Damned If We Don’t But Not So Damned If We Do

Did you see that sign we passed about three years ago on the road of rampant government spending? It read, “Now Passing: Point Of No Return”. You might have missed it though. See, it was obstructed by one of those nice big pretty signs President Obama had put up proclaiming how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was providing funds to have the road repaved. Now we are well past the point of no return and most people do not even know it.

No Joke!  CDC Offers Advice To Deal With Zombie Apocalypse!

I hate our government. I really do. I had a legitimate article about serious things of concern to our great nation all ready to go. Then someone in the government does something so utterly stupid that I have to trash that original article to talk about this utter stupidity.

Presidential Texts From The Edge

President Obama has a PLAN. And by PLAN I mean The Personalized Localized Alerting Network, announced Monday, which will let government text you on your cell phone. PLAN is an extension of the Emergency Alert System we have all come to know, love and often be annoyed by. That ear shattering belch of a screech we hear so often on the radio, usually followed by the announcement that “this is only a test”, has become pretty much standard for anyone that doesn’t have their head in the sand living a life of Unabomber simplicity.

Rep. Paul Ryan Isn’t The Savior We Need

Unquiver your arrows all you GOP partisans and blind Republican loyalists! For I am here for you to take shots at. I am painting a big, red bulls-eye on myself for you to attack because I am here to tell you something you do not want to hear; the truth. By now we are all well aware of Representative Paul Ryan’s proposed budget for 2012. We are also all aware of the talking points, especially the one where it would shave over six trillion dollars of federal spending over the next ten years. Those talking points led the American Spectator’s Peter Ferrara to call the Ryan proposal full of, “Real, Powerful Spending Cuts”. But fortunately even Mr. Ferrara, sucked in by the hype, was at least drawn enough to the truth to mention it but only as an afterthought. He was too enthralled by Mr. Ryan’s proposal and praising it for anything deeper.

Setting Brushfires, One Mario Lemieux Fan At A Time

Little did I realize two weeks ago when my wife, love of my life, bought me for my birthday a replica of Mario Lemieux’s rookie season sweater that it would be such an opportunity for me to talk to people. If you are not a fan of hockey, first of all shame on you. If you are, however, a hockey fan but not a fan of Mario Lemieux? Then double shame on you. Lemieux, unlike other hockey greats, racked up Hall of Fame numbers while playing for perpetually bad teams early in his career, suffering from chronic back problems so bad that other people had to lace up his skates for him as well as also battling cancer. You can argue all you want about who the greatest hockey player of all time is. But when you look at what Lemieux did, especially in an era where clutching and grabbing was not only allowed but highly encouraged, there is little doubt. And most Pittsburghers know this. Fans from other hockey cities however often left their own prejudices cloud their judgment on the topic. That's ok, we here in Pittsburgh are big people and forgive them.

The “Smart” Meters Cometh

If you want something to appear beneficial usually you just have to add certain adjectives to accomplish that feat. Tired of your old laundry detergent? Try the “new and improved”, “eco-friendly,” version that will give you “whiter whites”! You want someone to not know what you are really up to but do not want to technically lie to them either? Just adapt words and even invent new phrases. Hey, you see those troops over there? They are not at war. They are part of a “kinetic military action”! Liberals are not socialist, they are “progressive”! Abortion is not murder; it is a “choice”!