Ben Nelms's blog

Flu vaccine questions linger

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:41:42 -0400

The preparations for flu season are here. Some local schools, with parental sign-offs, are set to begin administering FluMist. The first shipments of vaccine for the “novel H1N1 flu” are coming in for higher risk people, with more on the way for much of the remainder of the population.

A few thoughts on accountability

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:25:48 -0400

Those of us who cover elected officials for a living sometimes see things that others miss. It’s not because we’re smart. It’s simply due to the exhaustive number of meetings we cover. Numbering in the hundreds, we see the dynamics, the relationships and the various ways the public is treated.

America: The path ahead, part 2

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:51:31 -0400

Governments erode as they exert control that sooner or later diminishes human rights.

I think that, unless it is altered, our future will see past governmental/societal models morph into something relatively new and better suited for today’s more technologically-proficient systems of mass control.

America: The path ahead, part 1

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:49:18 -0400

“Where is America headed?” and “Who is in control our destiny?” As before in our history, these questions are being asked by some today. Everybody’s got an opinion. Here’s mine in abbreviated form.

Homelessness in Fayette County is not a myth

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:54:39 -0400

I well remember the many street corners in Phoenix and Tucson in the 1980s and 1990s, where thousands of homeless people and others from the Boston-to-Chicago megalopolis were given one-way tickets as part of the social agenda of “Greyhound therapy.”

Reconsidering tea party movement

Tue, 26 May 2009 16:49:58 -0400

I’ve been thinking about my comments in this column back in April when I argued for supporting the tea party initiatives across America.

We all should drink more tea

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:40:49 -0400

If the mindset of many Americans so prevalent today had been present in 1776 there would have been no American Revolution.

You are the cure for Congressional treason

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:59:02 -0500

“Just victims of the in-house drive-by. They say jump, you say how high?” Aside from some of their seemingly anarchist lyrics, of which I don’t approve, that line from “Rage Against the Machine” is as close as any I can find to fit the current day and generations-long condition of the American experience existing between “We the people” and the Congressional/Administrative branches and the “financial element” whose will politicians dutifully obey (c.f., Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson, Jackson, Garfield and Wilson).

The 2 things that will kill this nation

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:41:21 -0500

“How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.”

This sickening, but often correct, piece of political wisdom is attributed to Adolph Hitler. But, of course, such words would never have been uttered by the leaders of the American society during its 200-plus-year history. Our revered leaders in whom “We the people” put so much trust could never, would never, regardless their party affiliation, think such things. Or did they?

Why 20,000 troops in U.S. could be our disaster

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:37:59 -0500

Putting 20,000 troops on American soil for purposes of domestic (emergency) response would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable prior to 9/11. Those were the words of homeland defense assistant defense secretary Paul McHale in November.

The politics of death

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:33:12 -0400

If you have a weak stomach or get offended easily, please don’t read any further.

A premature baby lies alone on a table in a hospital utility room, dying. His heart is beating, his lungs are supplying the air he needs to breathe. Autonomic and central nervous systems are functioning. His arms and legs are moving in the air that is so different from the warm, liquid world of amniotic fluid that has until moments ago defined his world for the past 23 weeks.

Russia and Georgia: The untold story

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:54:42 -0400

Russia. Georgia. A lot has been made on both sides about the reasons why Russia made its move past the South Ossetia breakaway region and continued its march to Gori in the central part of the country and to Poti on the Black Sea coast. The reasons appear to be several, though at least one of those has received virtually no media coverage.

The real risk of an avian flu pandemic

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:30:49 -0400

A group of public health and emergency services officials in Fayette and Coweta counties met last week, along with their counterparts in the other counties in Georgia Public Health District 4, to discuss a response to a potential pandemic of avian flu. While not generally on the public radar, the planning by those responsible for addressing such a crisis head-on cannot be underestimated. Here’s why.

Quietly, North American Community slips in

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:10:26 -0400

You have all heard of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. How many have heard of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)?

Cell phone dangers, especially for kids — just whom do you believe?

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:37:23 -0400

University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Director Ronald Herberman set off a flurry of excitement last week when he released a memo to the center’s 3,000 employees advising caution over cell phone use.