And an excellent source of Christmas cards.

When I lived in China - so long ago that it was before the internet - my subs to Private Eye and The Economist were what kept me informed.

People still buy newspapers? I suppose those birdcages don't line themselves though.

Gobble "So BOG I am curious, where do you get your news from?" I don't watch TV or TV news. My first stop is The Free Republic, where members post interesting and late breaking news items from a variety of sources. Stories grouped by title, and a quick summary. If of interest I go to the source.

I have links to all these sources:

ABC News
American Spectator
Asheville Tribune
Asia Times
Boston Globe
Boston Herald
Breitbart
C-Span
CBS News
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun-Times
Christian Broadcasting Network
Christian Science Monitor
CNN
CNSNews.com
Dallas Morning News
Drudge Report
FOX News
Frontpage Mag
Google News
Hill News
Human Events
Investor's Business Daily
Jewish World Review
Las Vegas Sun
Los Angeles Times
MSNBC
National Review
News Link
NewsMax
NY Daily News
New York Post
New York Times
OC Register
Opinion Journal
Patriot Post
Post-Gazette
Reason Magazine
Roll Call
Salon Magazine
Telegraph (UK)
Times Online (UK)
Town Hall
Union Leader
U.S. News & World Report
USA Today
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post
Washington Times
Weekly Standard
WorldNetDaily
Yahoo News

The Free Republic is a conservative news forum. Does it not seem biased that you read most of your news from recommendations of other conservatives?

They post articles from many sources. I said I start at the FR. I will also visit the Democratic Underground, but eat the rich gets a little boring after a while. )I was actually banned from the DU for posting how Kennedy was a hypocrite for opposing windfarms off Cape Cod.That still ticks me off) I listen to NPR, but mostly on weekends. I listen to the BBC if I'm up early. I like a variety of sources, and showed you many links. .

But mainly I like facts, not opinions.

@bog: i'd love to have a discussion with you, but you seem to ignore me :(

I'm sorry kasi, I thought I responded to your questions. Please, lets discuss. I try to answer all questions.

kasi - k. I saw I missed one.

@bog: i don't live in america, so i don't care about the constitution, so i'm going to address this: "The ideal government protects citizens against the many tyrannies of government."

Yes. "The government that governs least, governs best" Thomas Jefferson.

"let's take the example of drinking and driving. the government forbids me to drink and drive. is that tyranny on the side of the government? should our right to drink alcohol and drive be protected?" Where do you get a right to be a public menace? You don't have a right to cause accidents or drive under the influence. So no, having public intoxication laws is not tyranny. I think laws that prohibit drinking in vehicles driven by a non-drinking driver is overkill. I would also consider the death penalty if you kill someone while driving under the influence. Like that lady who killed 4 people at a football game yesterday, and injured 40.

ad 2) "MOST cancers can be avoided" that's what i wanted to hear (well, not exactly, but kinda). so that means some cancer can't be avoided. what if you're poor (as some people have to be, your words) and can't afford chemotherapy?" Chemo doesn't 'avoid' cancers. It treats cancers that have already formed, so your question is not quite relevant. A healthy lifestyle, avoiding processed foods, refined sugars and grains will reduce cancers. Eat natural foods. Avoid meats with hormones and antibiotics. Buy local. Eat fresh. Cook at home. Address the cause, not the symptom.

"Where do you get a right to be a public menace?" This question can raise its own government philosophy debate. A Hobbesian would say that question is part of the stem that makes government an absolute necessity.
Regarding the cancer point, wouldn't the amount of cancer necessitate an easing out? Sure, we can move to a healthier society in an attempt to avoid cancers, but that's incredibly long-term, even if we begin that process today. And still, how should we treat the cancers that currently are? And the cancers that can't be avoided, how should those be treated? Both of those in the instances of the poor, as kasi tried to pull it toward.

I do believe government is absolutely necessary. If you want to drink and drive on your own property, I want the government to stay away. If you venture onto a highway while drunk, if you get caught, there is a penalty. So your rights pertain to you. When your actions infringe on my rights to life and liberty, I want some help from government in restraining you.

And yes, good health disease prevention is a long term issue. Our medical doctors are good at treating trauma - they know how to cut and give you drugs. Disease prevention is a lifestyle, not a magic bullet. Prevention casts significantly less than treatment. You feel better, too.

@bog: you don't seem to get my point at all, so i'll try to make it a bit clearer.

"Where do you get a right to be a public menace? You don't have a right to cause accidents or drive under the influence."
exactly. now, who imposes those restraints? the government. so we agree that there always has to be a government of some sort, to protect. otherwise, there'd be anarchy. now what about people who can't afford healthcare (and that's where the two themes connect)? you apparently believe that cancer is preventable, so let's take an accident without someone responsible - getting hit by lightning, for example. rare, i know, but it happens. who pays for the treatment if the person struck can't afford it?

Kasi - I thought you were making 2 separate points.

Yes, we need some, limited government. Prevent the Nazi's from invading France and Poland. Local governments to provide police, fire protection, roads.

But then you seem to be making a jump that since we need a little government, we then need government to take care of all possible medical emergencies.

So why can't people afford their own healthcare? Lot's of reasons. A good job is important. Things such as health savings accounts would allow people to save for medical emergencies. Eliminating government regulations on insurance companies (in some states in the US, it is a highly politicized and competition reducing process)

The point is, private industry and competition gives us all the things we want - cars, food, cellphones, clothing, computers and diplomacy websites. But somehow, when it comes to a few things like education and healthcare, people think government knows better and and can do a better job. They think wrongly.

There are many private charities and other programs that care for those unfortunate poor. Mother Theresa comes to mind. Also, in the US, nobody can be turned away for emergency medical care.

"Also, in the US, nobody can be turned away for emergency medical care."

That is a half truth. If you can get into an emergency room without using an ambulance, then a hospital is required to treat you or lose federal payments. If you take an ambulance, the hospital can tell the driver to take you to another hospital even if they are the closest by saying that they don't have enough room.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) prohibits Public and private hospitals by law from denying a patient care in an emergency. Yeah, people always break laws.

What should a government do? What the people tell them to! If they vote for green sky then the politicians should be trying to deliver it.

What should the people ask their government to do? Things that they cannot easily or efficiently provide themselves (e.g. security from a drunk driver) and that the market is unwilling or unable to serve effectively (e.g. security from a drunk driver again).

What the people do ask their governments to do falls into three broad areas: health, wealth, and education. Each is a continuum of services; e.g. an army to prevent you being killed by invaders is a very basic form of health care, in contrast to the complexity of a fully funded national health care system. Wealth can be as simple as providing a stable currency through to government agencies regulating stock-markets. Education, is basically an investment in future health & wealth, might be primary only through to fully funded tertiary education.

There is no intrinsically right or wrong answer; these are choices for the people to make.

"Processed meats do cause cancer - WHO" yeah, just what I said. It is not the bacon or red meat. It is the 'processed' meats. Bacon and red meat are good for you. The body needs the nutrients. It is the chemicals involved in processing that increases the risk of cancer.

Eat natural foods - Avoid Cancer. Don't drive drunk - Avoid injury and killing people. Don't eat refined sugar and grains - avoid heart disease. Simple things. Or do stupid things and force me to pay for your bad lifestyle choices. Duh.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34615621

Bacon is a processed meat, you twit.

You don't know what you are talking about. You can buy a pork belly and make your own bacon without the chemicals. Or buy it from a natural meat store. Idiot.

I'm not an idiot. Pork only becomes "bacon" when you cure it. Curing is a process. Bacon is therefore a processed meat. The things you'd have to do to "make your own bacon" would be a form of processing.

Pork belly which has not been cured is not bacon, it is "pork belly".

So is cooking meat 'processing' it? Is cutting a vegetable 'processing' it? Of course it is. But you are missing the point completely.

I was referring to processed meats as the additions of all the chemicals, hormones and antibiotics to make them cheap, plentiful and dangerous. I don't consider a nice strip steak with a pat of butter a 'processed' food.

you can buy no added chemicals or antibiotic free bacon....Curing can be done with all those elements eliminated

this article says bacon so it must be true!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/26/hot-dogs-bacon-and-other-processed-meats-cause-cancer-world-health-organization-declares/

Turkey is not only a powerful corner on the Diplomacy board for those who play their cards right, but also an extensively healthy meat.

Also, yeah, pork is still incredibly unhealthy unprocessed.

Yeah but Pork never gains more than 1 SC unless if England messes up big, but it has a good overall defensive position.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/feb/17/medicalscience.research

Never eat Turkey. Unless you shoot a wild one.