Bill Maher on The Huffington Post

Jonathan Tisch: Funny Business

2009-11-10T12:38:50Z

New York City can be a funny place. Last week the city was hilarious thanks to the sixth annual New York Comedy Festival, a week-long celebration of stand-up comedy founded by Caroline Hirsh and Andrew Fox. Some of the biggest names in the business like Steven Colbert, Dane Cook, Ricky Gervais, Bill Maher, Tracy Morgan, Andy Samberg, and many others, headlined at venues around the city from Avery Fisher Hall to Madison Square Garden.

Even lesser known comedians were in on the joke. Thursday night at Caroline's Comedy Club, owned by Caroline Hirsch and known as America's premier comedy nightclub located in the heart of Times Square, an unlikely group of comedians took the stage.

Caroline's hosted its 6th edition of David Moore's "Funny Business." The show was created by private equity investor and entrepreneur David Moore in 2003, in order to give business people the chance to prove they could be as witty as they are business savvy by performing stand-up alongside professional comics. That's right, business people. Certainly a gamble for a CEO to take on a heckler rather than a balance sheet, but a risk I was willing to take at the show's inception years ago and then again Thursday night. This time the comedic exploits would benefit The Mayor's Fund for NYC's Learn to Swim Program.

Joined that evening by Stephen Siegel, Chairman, Global Brokerage, CB Richard Ellis, Inc.; Stew Leonard, CEO, Stew Leonard's; and host David Moore, dubbed, "The World's Funniest CEO," I took center stage to a sold out crowd. I reminded myself that this would be easy if there were any truth to the saying, "comedy is just a funny way of being serious."

Of the four featured CEOs, I appeared last. In baseball, the fourth player in the batting order is of course "batting cleanup" and is usually the best hitter with the most power. However, I suspected Caroline's organized the CEO line-up alphabetically. My challenge was made even greater by the fact that I followed a professional comedian from SNL, Colin Quinn. Still I persevered and threw out my first joke.

"It's great to be here at the famous Caroline's Comedy Club as part of the 'Funny Business' night. Of course the stereotype is that CEOs aren't that funny, and I'm here tonight to prove that."

The audience laughed immediately (though I'm sure it helped that the room was packed with family, friends and colleagues). The entire week provided laughs for many New Yorkers and those visiting our city; and not just those who were kind enough to come to Caroline's to see my fellow comedians and me. In fact, it was another comedy show at The Town Hall on West 43rd Street that was likely the most important event presented by the New York Comedy Festival. It's called "Stand Up For Heroes."

"Stand Up For Heroes" is a unique evening of humor and tributes dedicated to our nation's injured service members, with proceeds benefiting the Bob Woodruff Family Fund. The night included special performances by Bruce Springsteen, Steven Colbert and others. All five living presidents sit on the event's Presidential Committee: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, President George W. Bush, President William J. Clinton, President George H. W. Bush and President Jimmy Carter.

NBC's Brian Williams hosted a night that reminded New Yorkers, and many others, of the debt of gratitude we owe the men and women in uniform. The evening's comic relief fetched laughter and cheers. But perhaps the greatest measure of success for the New York Comedy Festival was that fact that it was the servicemen and women from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines who rightfully received the Festival's most thunderous and heartfelt applause.

Jonathan Tisch is Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels, Co-Chairman of the Board for Loews Corp. and host of television's Beyond the Boardroom with Jonathan Tisch.

RJ Eskow: Base to Obama: Come In, Please

2009-11-03T19:28:57Z

As Year One of the Obama Era draws to a close, the recent Arianna Huffington/David Plouffe exchange illustrates a structural defect in the coalition Obama's seeking to build. And make no mistake: Some might call it The Year of Living Non-Dangerously, but it looks more like a deliberate strategy. It's not waffling or weakness: Barack Obama wants to become the Tony Blair of American politics.

The President seems to be deliberately moving his party rightward in order to capture the political spectrum from center/right to left, freezing out the Republican Party. It worked for Blair, but will it work here? Or will he lose his base in the process, damaging his own effectiveness? 365 days after his election, here are some pointed - and sometimes painful - questions.

In many ways disappointment with the Obama Presidency was inevitable. The President consciously (and tactically) presented himself as all things to all people, a kind of Rorschach Test on which people could project their own hopes and dreams. But a million different dreams had to collapse into a single reality when the real-life Presidency began, in much the same way that a "probability wave" of many trajectories collapses into a single photon in physics.

But it's more than that. The campaign made implicit promises of trustworthiness and new-style politics, as well as some explicit promises that have been jettisoned without explanation. He reversed himself on key health care pledges without explaining to his supporters why, and he broke his promise on ending government security much the same way. His handling of government spying abuses raises our first question: Would we have ever learned about Watergate if Barack Obama had been President?

He did not run as a center-Right Democrat, nor did he promise to restore the Clinton Administration if elected. There may be good reasons to govern from the center-Right, but he hasn't given his supporters the courtesy of an explanation. And the Clinton Administration was a deep pool of extraordinary talent, so it was wise to draw from it - in most cases. But in many critical jobs - especially Treasury - his choices have been disappointingly weak.

Then there's the whole issue of governing from the center. Here the question becomes, Would Barack Obama be a better President today if he had never read 'Team of Rivals'? Sure, it's inspiring to read how Lincoln drew his bitter opponents into his government, wisely and selflessly. But, leaving aside the challenge some historians have made to that book's thesis, is the President learning that some of his rivals may not have the same high moral standards as Lincoln's? Most politicians want to please everyone, especially those that don't like them. Let us hope that this emotional impulse is not being masked in the cloak of false pragmatism. In other words, Has the President written the wrong future biography for himself? Is he aspiring to be Lincoln when the times call for Roosevelt?

Which leads us to the next question: Is the President's Big Tent big enough to include his supporters? The President has projected an almost visceral dislike of bloggers, and his Cabinet boasts few DC outsiders like the ones that formed his initial base. Rahm Emanuel showered progressive activists with "F bombs" recently. By contrast, during his Presidency Bill Clinton spoke with warmth and empathy about the ragtag protesters at Seattle's World Trade Organization meeting. Many get the sense that Obama sees young (and not so young) activists as foolish and naive, a source of unpredictability and disorder that just makes him uncomfortable. That impression may be false, but it is an impression nevertheless.

Pace Mr. Plouffe, the base's disappointment with the President is not based on "frustration with the pace of change." It's based on their fear that the President may not really be interested in fundamental change. If that is anyone's fault, then to a large extent the blame lies with the President - and his advisors and communicators.

Some (in the Administration and elsewhere) may say, Who cares? What difference does it make if a group of granola-eating activists and bloggers is unhappy? We've got a center-right coalition to build. We're about the hard work of day-to-day governance. But Democrats would be foolish to assume that any future election will be an easy one. A dispirited base damages a campaign at its foundation, and at its heart. Perhaps the President should consider a sit-down with his critics on the Left, as well as those on the Right. If nothing else, he should use them as an excuse for passing legislation he supports anyway.

Compromise is the lifeblood of politics, as long as it's not done too quickly - or too cynically. Obama's lack of specificity on health reform and his willingness to defer to Congress could be seen as expediency, or as more Rorschach Politics. (As long as it's called "health reform" and it passes, we win. ...) Unnecessary compromise dilutes the outcome, especially when one's opponents lack good will.

We wish the President every success at Year One. We remain guardedly optimistic, despite the disappointments. We would pitch in and help ourselves, if we were welcomed. And we recognize that politics is hard, messy, and filled with compromise. But, if greatness is a combination of talent and historical need, this President has the potential for greatness. So the final question is this one:

Does the President understand that compromising with cynics can lead to a half-cynical outcome?

RJ Eskow blogs when he can at:

A Night Light
The Sentinel Effect: Healthcare Blog

Website: Eskow and Associates

So, one year after the election, what do you think Candidate Obama would think of President Obama? Tweet your response (our Twitter hashtag is #OneYearLater), or post it in the comments section.

Bill Maher: Is This as Good as It Gets From Obama?

2009-11-02T22:11:43Z

Yeah, I'm disappointed, too. I thought we were sweeping into power; I thought change meant Change. I believed all that talk about another First 100 Days, a la Roosevelt. Well, that didn't happen. The question is, is this as good as it gets from Obama, or is he pacing himself? He may have a four and eight-year plan and they included a first year of just gettin' to know you and not gonna rock the boat too much. Well, Mission Accomplished on that.

It's still too early to lose hope in a guy as smart and talented as Barack Obama. But I would counsel him to remember: If you're going undercover to infiltrate how Washington works, so you become one of them for a while, to gain their confidence, well, it can be just like all those movies where a cop goes deep, deep, DEEP undercover with drug people and -- fuck, he's a drug addict, too!

Logic tells me that really smart guys like Obama and Rahm Emanuel know better what they're doing than I do. They certainly know things I don't know. I think we have the same general goals and beliefs. And this is what they do for a living -- I wouldn't even try it. But I will never stop having this doubt: that maybe if they had really charged in there riding the forceful energy of the historic election, and acted like it was an emergency moment -- which it was -- they could have gotten some big victories right up front, and there really could have been an historic "first hundred days" for this administration and the country. Instead of what happened, which is the Obamas got a dog. It could have worked -- the country had given its endorsement to "...and now for something completely different." There might have been a way to knock the Republicans back on their heels right away, with the argument that "The American people demanded we make these changes, and you are unpatriotic to stand in their way."

We'll never know. Because that moment passed, and now it could follow the pattern of World War I and devolve into boring, static trench warfare where nothing really gamechanging happens while both sides slowly bleed to death.

That said, I do not forget that if the election had gone the other way, we'd right now have a barter economy and be at war with Honduras.

So, one year after the election, what do you think Candidate Obama would think of President Obama? Tweet your response (our Twitter hashtag is #OneYearLater), or post it in the comments section.

GOP, Democratic Senators Agree: Get Swine Flu Vaccination

2009-10-18T19:30:08Z

Right-wing pundits like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have recently spoken out against government direction on the H1N1 vaccine, saying that individuals should make up their own minds whether to get vaccinated or not. Some left-wing pundits, such as Bill Maher, have made similar statements.

In the Senate, the topic has accomplished the rare feat of uniting Democrats and Republicans -- members of both parties are promoting vaccinations regardless of the rhetoric.

Harold Pollack: Get your flu shots -- and ignore Bill Maher

2009-10-17T17:08:37Z

I just want to endorse Linda Bergthold's recent HuffPo column about Bill Maher. Maher is a funny guy who often displays a sharp intellect. On matters of public health, however, my view of him parallels President Obama's opinion of Kanye West.

As Bergthold notes, there is a lot of good evidence out there indicating that seasonal flu and H1N1 immunization are safe and valuable to protect the public health. There is also a lot of misinformation out there from misguided celebrities among others. Dubious claims sometimes even find their way onto Huffington Post. You should enjoy these web pages and learn from many fine columnists, including a huge number of bona fide public health experts. You should always remember, however, that venues such as this one are not positioned to provide authoritative or scrutinized medical advice regarding vaccines and other matters. You should certainly remember that sincere and passionate celebrities such as Bill Maher and Jenny McCarthy don't always get things right.

A far more credible source, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports the obvious: By getting a flu shot, you are protecting your health. You are also protecting others, including elderly people and those with immune system challenges in your community. You are saving lives.

Bill Maher Talks Balloon Boy, Interviews Rep. Alan Grayson (VIDEO)

2009-10-17T15:42:07Z

On "Real Time" this Friday, Maher began his show with a monologue about the the "balloon boy" saga surrounding the Heene family.

Maher made some funny observations. Among them, the misnomer "balloon boy."

"They're calling him balloon boy, which is so stupid" Maher said, "because the one thing we know about this kid, is that he was not in a balloon."

WATCH:

Maher's first guest Friday was Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL).

Grayson made a national name for himself over the past few weeks with his simple analysis of the Republican Party's health care plan: Don't get sick and if you do, die quickly.

Rep. Grayson came prepared for Maher and the show's format. They went back and forth, and talked about health care reform, medical malpractice suits, President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, and the Afghan War (Grayson is opposed to the war). Each scored some good one-liners.

Rep. Grayson's most quotable line was a joke about President Obama conspiracy theorists:
"I understand what the president's doing, and you know, people attack him and he turns the other cheek, just like a good Muslim would do."

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Bill Maher On The Year In Ridiculous Republicans (VIDEO)

2009-10-17T00:40:50Z

On ""Real Time" Friday night, Bill Maher decided to end his show by mocking all the Republicans who have become prime targets for jokes now that George Bush is no longer front and center. "It turns out there were plenty of ridiculous Republicans behind him that we just couldn't see," Maher said. "His stupid star doth shone too brightly."

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Read more: Bill Maher Republicans, Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill Maher Gop, Video, Bill Maher, Republicans, Comedy News

"Sell The Vatican Save The World": Sarah Silverman's Campaign To End Hunger (VIDEO)

2009-10-11T00:48:22Z
We're pretty sure offering the Pope "pussy" is inappropriate, but doing it in the name of solving world hunger seems a little less crazy. Sarah Silverman launched a new campaign this weekend on "Real Time with Bill Maher" in which she pleads with the Catholic Church to sell the Vatican to save the world: "You preach to live humbly, and I totally agree. So now maybe it's time for you to move out of your house that is a city." Silverman outlines her plan in the following video which may prove unpopular among Catholics and highly popular amongst Silverman fans.

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Read more: Sell the Vatican Save the World, Bill Maher, Sarah Silverman, Video, Real Time With Bill Maher, Sarah Silverman Bill Maher, Real Time Sarah Silverman, Sell the Vatican Video, The Pope, Sell the Vatican, Sarah Silverman Sell the Vatican, Sarah Silverman Vatican, Sarah Silverman World Hunger, Comedy News

Bill Maher: Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Because It Will Make Rush Limbaugh "Explode" (VIDEO)

2009-10-09T23:29:08Z
On "Real Time" Friday night Bill Maher suggested that this weekend was the perfect time for President Obama to announce that he would repeal "don't ask, don't tell," due to the fact that Obama will be speaking to a gay rights group on Saturday and because of the march for gay rights in Washington Sunday. Maher referred to "don't ask, don't tell'' as a policy that "never made sense to begin with."

The HBO host then delivered some particularly amusing reasons why Obama should end the policy. "Forget all the good arguments for repeal, like, because it's the right thing to do, or because it was promised in the campaign," Maher said. Instead:

"Do it because it will make Rush Limbaugh explode like a bag full of meat dropped from a helicopter," he said. "Do it because it will make Sarah Palin go rogue in her pants."

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Read more: Dadt, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill Maher, Gay Rights, Rush Limbaugh, Barack Obama, Bill Maher Real Time, Real Time Bill Maher, Bill Maher Don't Ask, Comedy News

Bill Maher: New Rule: Everyone Deserves Equal Rights

2009-10-09T12:06:46Z
New Rule: Everyone deserves equal rights. That's why they're called "equal" and "rights." Tomorrow night President Obama will speak before a gay rights group, and on Sunday there will be a massive gay rally in Washington, or as I call it, the Million Mo March. Which makes this weekend the perfect time for Obama to announce he's repealing "don't ask, don't tell" and committing to a full-throated endorsement of gay marriage. One, because it's the right thing to do and two, because it will throw the conservative base into such a frenzied, pants-shitting panic that they'll drop all that BS about death panels and socialism and let us all get some actual work done.

But of course that's not going to happen. I can tell you what the president is going to tell his audience tomorrow: How much he supports them. How much he agrees with them. And how he wishes he was President so he could help them out. But here's the thing about being president. There isn't a lot you can do without either Congress, Oprah or Goldman Sachs behind you. But there is one thing the president can do with the stroke of a pen: He can let gays serve openly in the military. It's called an executive order. Harry Truman wrote one in 1948 for blacks in the military, and that was that.

"Don't ask, don't tell" has always been bad policy that was made out of a bullshit political compromise. You know, like you're doing now with health care. It never made sense to begin with: "Here in the Army we're all about honor. And trusting the man next to you. Now lie to my face about your sexuality, Johnson, or I'll report you behind your back." But forget all the good arguments for repeal, like because it was promised to us in the campaign or because it gets lonely on a submarine. Do it because it'll make Rush Limbaugh explode like a bag full of meat dropped from a helicopter. Do it because it'll make Sarah Palin go rogue in her pants.

Because here's the thing about today's conservatives: they're not bright. They can't keep a lot of ideas in their head at once. And by "a lot" I mean "two." If we can get them all worked up about fighting the gay menace, it will siphon away all that crazy, right wing, town-hall energy from all the other big issues they've been fighting. The tea-baggers don't know what the word "socialism" means. But they do know what the word "gay" means, because their hairdresser explained it to them once, and they don't like it. They will be drawn to it like a moth to a flamer. Bush was practically re-elected on a promise to keep boys from kissing. Which is ridiculous, because if you want to stop gays from having sex, wouldn't you let them get married?

But seriously, the sheer rage of the tea-baggers can be so easily redirected that some times I wonder if Rush doesn't just spin a giant wheel of hate every morning to come up with ACORN! William Ayers! Birth certificate! It's like faking throwing a stick for the dog. "War on Christmas." "Obama's talking to school children." And "gay" is the easiest stick to throw.

Health care and the environment are complicated, but it's not hard to keep track of the places that God allows you to put your pee-pee. I mean, you can count those places on one hand. And that hand isn't something you should be using either. A year ago, if you had asked your average wing-nut neighbor what he thought about health care reform, he would have shrugged his shoulders and gone right back to eating his Moon Pie. But he's pissed-off about it now, why? Because it's in their nature to be pissed-off. They have a pre-existing condition called the Conniption Fits. The tea-baggers have taught us all an important lesson in modern politics: If you want to be taken seriously, act like a fucking loony-tune.

In fact, let me explain how the right-wing mind works: wing-nuts get up in the morning, get their "news" from Fox or Drudge, and then spend all morning drinking coffee and getting all worked up about whatever Fox and Drudge tell them to get worked up about. "Mexicans - Grrr! Socialism - Grrr! Van Jones - I don't know who he is, but sure... Grrrrrr!" By the time Rush comes on at noon, they're ready to just start demanding we build a wall around Andy Dick. And when Glenn Beck shows up at five, they're seeing red - right through the blue from the Viagra.

But while Glenn is busy explaining to his viewers that when he cries it's a butch thing, Obama and the Democrats can sweep in under the gaydar and pass real health care and real climate change bills. This is how we fight fire with Fire Island. When Obama speaks tomorrow, he should not only revoke "don't ask, don't tell," but also change our military's slogan to "An Army of Buns." And starting next year, gay busing. Yes, if there aren't any gay families in your community, we'll bring them to you. Your field hockey team can thank us later.

And when they get out there on Sunday, Gay Nation also needs to do everything in their power to scare the hell out of right-wing homophobes. I want to see you guys rollerblading down the Mall in nothing but a speedo and a nun's habit, holding a sparkler in one hand and a penis popsicle in the other.
Read more: Equal Rights, GGay Nation, Teabaggers, Rush Limbaugh, Big Gay Speech, Acorn, Harry Truman, Congress, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, Hbo, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Goldman Sachs, Oprah Winfrey, Gay Rights, Bill Ayers, Glenn Beck, Tea Party, Bill Maher, Bill Maher New Rule, Comedy News

WATCH: Bill Maher Auditions Sarah Palin's Writers (VIDEO)

2009-10-05T13:40:31Z
It takes a special person to work with a special former governor. Bill Maher shows us who would have been the perfect writer to pair with Palin, and the titles they would have come up with. They're all more apropos than Going Rogue.

Let us know which one you think hits the mark.

Read more: Authors, Bill Maher, Books, Parody, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Bill Maher, Palin, Going Rogue, Comedy, Thomas Friedman, Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus, Books News

Bill Maher Slams GOP Climate Change Skeptics: They're "So Stupid They Make Me Question Evolution" (VIDEO)

2009-10-03T01:04:36Z
On "Real Time" Friday night Bill Maher pilloried climate change skeptics, particularly skeptics in the Republican party, insisting that they must "stop pretending climate change is a future problem."

Maher directed his criticism at Republicans such as Sen. James Inhofe, who has previously referred to global warming as the "greatest hoax," despite having no science background. He also called out Republicans who, while no longer insisting that the issue of global warming 'needed more study,' now insist that it's probably too late anyhow and so need to change our ways. Maher cited the example of GOP Rep. Joe Barton, who has claimed that we will simply "adapt" to massive climate change.

"These people are so stupid they make me question evolution," Maher said.

Read more: Video, Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill Maher, Climate Change, Global Warming, Green News

Qanta Ahmed, MD: Sleepless Supernova: Propofol Lullabies In Neverland

2009-10-01T14:32:25Z

Michael Jackson's death is already a fading memory despite an acute expression of global despair as we witnessed the untimely extinction of a supernova. For physicians, struggling against a climate of national examination in this era of healthcare reform, there is a distinctly darker anguish which must finally be examined, an anguish which has been little discussed in the public arena. What has become of a profession which repeatedly fails its most important client: the patient, all the while profiting from the hapless same? At a time when an entire industry stands accused of cavalier profiteering, this is an important question to consider.

Michael Jackson was a patient failed by those who attended him. Even though some (including Jack Kevorkian in a recent article here on HuffPost) may argue that 'he got what he wanted", the discovery of propofol in his home brought our profession to new levels of mercenary depravity. Physician colleagues expressed shock and disbelief. Patients in consultation talked about their fears of becoming dependent on sleep aids, sometimes even referring to Michael's cautionary tale.
The cumulative pain from these decades of assaults on Michael's privacy, identity, and self, all contributed to the erosion of his identity. Was it any wonder the man would be in severe psychological pain from his first memories until perhaps his last hours? The accounts of a desperate insomniac entertainer craving propofol-induced 'sleep' were, to me, the most staggering salvo in the final, painful ballad of a dying star. Propofol lullabies in an unmonitored, non-sterile bedroom could be no more certain a prescription for death than a smoking gun.

A drug I have prescribed with due respect in the critical care arena when I was a practicing intensivist, propofol was a wonderful tool to induce sedation and facilitate difficult procedures which my patients needed. But using this agent required a team of monitoring professionals and devices in an advanced, high-tech environment to maintain both the safety of my patients and the peace of mind of their doctor. That an anesthesiologist could be on tour with Michael administering this drug for sleep onset is both baffling and repugnant. The King of Pop was effectively anaesthetized every night, while our profession was asleep at the wheel.
Everyone recognizes the disability of the poor but few recognize how handicapping extreme wealth can be, holding its victims hostage to boundless access. In the world of the uberwealthy, doctors become enablers, dispensers, predators, little more than licensed pushers.

Michael Jackson had spent a lifetime entertaining us at late, adult schedule hours from the time when he was barely out of infancy himself. This was a man who never had the benefit of unscheduled time, never learned the first experience of parental discipline so fundamental to a child's development: a fixed sleep-wake routine. Instead, at five he was already performing during the evening. By the time he appeared at the Apollo in 1969, he was a veteran of late night entertainment. Peter Pan's insomnia was yet another feature of not being allowed a full and healthy childhood.

Entertainers often experience delayed sleep phase syndrome.....a delayed physiologic timing in the arrival of sleep which the patient experiences as sleep onset insomnia. Bill Maher has described suggestive features reporting in one interview in his own words that he 'keeps VERY late hours'. Unsurprising, if one thinks about this. A natural tendency to sleep later and stay up later, easily described as being a night owl, may be a draw to the professional nightlife.
While some entertainers may gravitate to the industry because of their night owl tendencies, most are likely permanently rendered 'delayed sleep phase types' because of their exposure to late night bright light, stimulation, social interaction and stimulating substances including caffeine, nicotine or in some instances recreational drugs which all drive to delay the bedtime further.

Television itself can inhibit sleep onset because of the impact of ambient light from the screen on the body's intrinsic hormone of darkness, melatonin, Television watching, in a recent American survey published this spring in the Journal Sleep "Dubious bargain: trading sleep for Leno and Letterman' has been identified to be responsible for delaying sleep by up to 52 minutes in 68% of Americans. A dubious bargain indeed, when the nation is so frequently sleep deprived.

Out of desperation, insomniacs may problem-solve independently, most commonly resorting to alcohol as a self medication, not understanding that there is in this country, more so than anywhere else, a certified subspecialist sleep medicine community which exists to solve exactly these problems. Michael would have been exposed to this environment and these behaviors at an extremely early age, setting the scene for a lifetime of sleep disorders and drug dependencies.

The absence of response from the professional sleep medicine community to the abuse of propofol as a sleep aid in the setting of profound insomnia is puzzling to me but possibly intentional. Michael's insomnia, like that of Heath Ledger's was a lost teachable moment and in their lifetimes, a lost opportunity for intervention. Unrecognized insomnia has become a familiar motif in our most vulnerable icons, one which steals them away in the night. Too frequently insomnia is ascribed to 'drugs' without looking at why these individuals may have resorted to drug dependency in the first place.

Trouble sleeping is a serious multi-factorial disorder, one which needs careful evaluation. Insomnia is a disorder characterized by symptom focused definitions: trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, waking up before socially desirable or sleep which is simply not rejuvenating, Insomnia patients can have several of these symptoms together. Insomnia however is no longer considered merely a symptom but seen as a viable disorder itself, requiring detailed evaluation, multidisciplinary approaches and sometimes long term therapies. Board certified sleep specialists can guide a patient to treatment, which often involves more than solving an isolated psychiatric disorder or drug addiction but actually involves the teaching of new behaviors, restructuring disordered beliefs relating to insomnia, examining medical conditions, searching for primary sleep disorders and exploring all the factors which are contributing to disrupted sleep. Many patients who are resistant to seeking psychiatric help which may be very much needed, can be coaxed to such aid through a sleep specialist. An ethical sleep specialist in the setting of Michael Jackson's insomnia could have been a life line into the chaos surrounding him, though agreed, Michael was recalcitrant to sensible intervention, as Dr. Deepak Chopra sadly relayed in his CNN interviews shortly after Michael's death.

Unrecognized sleep disorders are often a harbinger of coexistent anxiety and depression. We know that Michael could well have experienced major depression at being stripped of a childhood and compelled 'to be an adult' very early, in the words of Brooke Shields as she eulogized him. Finally, the last decade of his life punctuated by a punishing trial would be very likely to have triggered severe depression as a reaction whether or not it touched on the truth of his inner life.

Most of all this event speaks to the national culture of Sleep Machismo a phrase which captures American workaholism as a disordered belief system, almost uniquely American. Imagine a performer so desperate for sleep he resorts to anesthetic sedation and yet so pressured to perform he was committed to dozens of concerts in a compressed time frame. His doomed concert was even aptly named as 'THIS IS IT". For Michael at that point in his career it was 'Do or Die'. Unfortunately, this time it would be 'Die'.

In this country, we value, emulate and even laud sleep loss in the pursuit of achievement, accolade and advancement. Michael's lifestyle and his learned behaviors of self-medicating sleep disorders were an exaggerated form of Sleep Machismo which appears in my office every day in a number of guises. His loss leaves many questions and an agitated hunger to pin blame on a single miscreant. Indeed major responsibilities are borne by the clinicians prescribing and administering him drugs at the patient's whim, which ultimately would be likely to act as cumulative respiratory depressants. Yet to me his loss was, in sum, a collective responsibility of an unfettered culture which has become almost singularly oral and consumptive, a culture with an insatiable appetite for interminably 'more' at the expense of our icons, our sanity and often our sleep.

As physicians we would do well to remember the Hippocratic Oath of first doing no harm. Clearly in the misery of his sleeplessness, his physicians betrayed the most basic of ethical boundaries. They put self interest ahead of patient interest. Sadly, the icon had become the golden goose for failing careers. These physicians too suffered from the drive to consume and appease an insatiable appetite for cash, celebrity and personal gain. My profession failed a national treasure, no matter how disordered, and failed him in pursuit of personal greed. We failed in his diagnosis, in his treatment, in disengaging from the dance with a manipulative addict and ultimately failed in the recognition of a critically important sleep disorder. Let us not fail in his wake to examine the lessons to found in the debris of destruction and share them with Americans everywhere.

Read more: Michael Jackson, Physicians, Propofol, Melatonin, This-Is-It, Deepak Chopra, Brooke Sheilds, Jay Leno, Cnn, Jack Kevorkian, Insomnia, King of Pop, Sleep Machismo, Heath Ledger, David Letterman, Bill Maher, Sleep, Hippocratic Oath, Living News

Yuna Shin: Opposition to Health Care Reform Peaks Early, But Falls Fast -- Like Sarah Palin?

2009-09-30T13:19:46Z
The Huffington Post reported on September 29th that the support for health care reform is again on the rise after the down slide of August. The report is based upon the newly released poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows that fifty-seven percent of Americans now believe that tackling health care reform is more important than ever -- up from 53 percent in August. The proportion of Americans who think their families would be better off if health reform passes is up six percentage points (42% versus 36% in August), and the percentage who think that the country would be better off is up eight points (to 53% from 45% in August). The summer of rowdy town hall meetings, shout fests, and accusations of fascism, socialism, communism, and death panels seems to be winding down, cooling along with the fall temperatures.

In looking at these polls, it is helpful to compare them to the presidential election polls of 2008. After all, who can forget the Republican rallies of the summer of 2008? The parallels between the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2009 are unmistakable: the heated, hate-filled rowdiness, the lack of civility, the same accusations of un-Americanness, the anger, hatred, and noise, the empty rhetoric, the sheer ugliness. The list goes on and on.

The common denominator between the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2009 is Sarah Palin. When Palin enters a debate, the issue, whatever it is, becomes immediately attractive. Then things get rowdy. They get hateful. They get heated. They gain momentum. However, this momentum does not last long.

Let's look at the presidential polls from the summer of 2008 a little closer. Going into the summer, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were still in a bitter fight for the presidential nomination by the Democratic National Party. It was not until the May primaries in North Carolina and Indiana that Barack Obama started to break away from Clinton. Still, Hillary Clinton refused to concede and marched on to June primaries. The polls showed this divide among Democrats. John McCain and Barack Obama went up and down in the polls , often trading places. Only in June did Barack Obama start to pull ahead of McCain, but still within statistical error margins.

Then on August 29th, John McCain made the surprise announcement for his vice-presidential pick of Sarah Palin. On September 3rd, she delivered a 40-minute speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. She delivered the most unforgettable one liners of the whole election season: "hockey mom" and "lip stick." The numbers shot up for the McCain/Palin ticket, and all the polls bore this out. With the convention bounce and the exuberance surrounding the fresh face of Palin, McCain's favorability hovered near 50% in the Gallup Poll , reaching 48% of likely voters saying they would vote for them during the week of September 5-7 while 43% said they would vote for Obama and Biden.

Following this bounce, however, reports of the rallies started to filter through into the press. Palin's rallies were attended by those shouting profanities at Barack Obama, calling for his head. Palin herself fueled this rage by describing Barack Obama as "palling around terrorists" because he "is not a man who sees America like you and I see America." There was no question that Palin owned these one-liners and she delivered them with all the prettiness she could muster to a crazed, mostly white, crowd, fueling their repressed anger.

Then came the interviews with Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric that showed her to be awfully under-prepared for a national office. The fire of the summer died down quickly along with her credibility. The last time McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden tickets were neck and neck in the polls was during the week of September 22-24 when each ticket had 46% of votes among likely voters. The Obama/Biden ticket pulled away from the McCain/Palin ticket after that all the way until the November elections.

If one looks back at this brief history of Sarah Palin, the bounce that she gave the GOP presidential ticket, and the continued rage that was felt at the rallies she attended, a similar trend emerges also in the health care debate of the summer of 2009. The health care reform was starting to get heated when Sarah Palin entered the debate with her infamous "death panels" posted on Facebook on August 7th. She wrote:
The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

Then the summer of 2009 started to resemble the summer of 2008 again with Sarah Palin providing the one-liners fueling the rage and hatred at the town halls. The media was in the grip of these events unfolding during much of August following Palin's entrance into the debate. Deja vu all over again. Signs saying "Obama wants to kill your grandma" began to show up at rallies along with pictures of Obama as Hitler, the Joker, etc. Reports of shouts, profanities, uncivil behavior by mainly white town hall attendees started to fill the news outlets. The words "death panels" began to be used widely by those debating on the issue both on the right and the left, and they became the catchword for most of the GOP politicians hosting the town hall meetings.

Then again in a deja vu moment, the heat began to subside. Reports started to circulate that the majority of Americans support health care reform. The president's speech on September 9th to the Congress on health care was well-received by the general public. The so-called "Tax Payers March to Washington, DC," held a mere day days after the speech, became the target of ridicule by journalists and bloggers alike. The fact that the sheer majority of the marchers were overweight white people was not lost. Neither was the fact that most of them sounded Southern. Nor the fact that most of those interviewed didn't seem to know what they were saying, whether it was "czar," "communist," "socialist," or "fascist," or other one-liners.

The number of attendees, estimated to be about 60,000-70,000 by the DC police, but exaggerated to 1.5 million by conservative news outlets, became the subject of ridicule. The "March" was soon perceived as the coda to the cacophony of the noise that pervaded the summer rather than the beginning of a revolt of any kind. Bill Maher's blog on The Huffington Post on September 18th seemed to capture what was on a lot of Americans' minds:
Unlike most liberals, I'm glad all those teabaggers marched on Washington last week. Because judging from the photos, it's the first exercise they've gotten in years. Not counting, of course, all the Rascal scooters there, most of which aren't even for the disabled. They're just Americans who turned 60 and said, 'Screw it, I'm done walking.' These people are furious at the high cost of health care, so they blame illegals, who don't even get health care. News flash, Glenn Beck fans: the reason health care is so expensive is because you're all so unhealthy.

So here we come to the final observation. When looking at the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2009 together, we find that the GOP and the GOP driven agenda quickly found flame with the entrance of Sarah Palin who brings attractiveness to the table. They shoot up in popularity for a few weeks, driven by one-liners from Palin, delivered by her as loudly as possible. However, once the novelty of these one-liners wear off, the noise clears, the dust settles, and the plain fact of the vapidness of these one-liners become apparent. The polls slide. After all, arguments without substance do not hold for long whether they are delivered by pretty faces or by an angry crowd.

It seems that Sarah Palin is trying to fan the flame again with the early release date of her book, Going Rogue. It remains to be seen what kind of effect her book will have. If the lesson of the last two summers is any indication, without substance, Sarah Palin will fade away quickly. She will once again be remembered only for the one-liners and for the smirk with which she delivered those one-liners.

One thing is certain. If you rise too fast, if you peak too early, then you fall just as hard. It is a lesson that the GOP needs to learn in order to stay relevant for the majority of Americans who consider themselves to be in the center. We are all in this together for the long haul. Not for the short-lived flames.
Read more: John McCain, Gop Health Care Reform, Death Panels, Palling Around With Terrorists, Health Care Reform, Lipstick on a Pig, Facebook, Sarah Palin, Hockey Mom, Barack Obama, Bill Maher New Rules, Bill Maher, Sarah Palin Book, Going Rogue, Politics News

Craig Alan Silverman: Bill Maher, Roman Polanski and Barack Obama

2009-09-29T17:00:14Z
It's not easy to escape religious roots. No one makes their own choice at birth regarding religion, yet ancestry and religious rules decide a lot. Jewish status is mostly matrilineal. Islam is patrilineal. When parents have different religions, confusion, complexity and conflicts often occur. Witness the interesting situations of Bill Maher, Roman Polanski and Barack Obama.

Bill Maher entertains me. He provokes thought and I like that. I TiVo Real Time on HBO. I've laughed at Maher's live act at the Paramount in Denver. Between three trips to the synagogue for Yom Kippur services, I watched Religulous on DVD. Sacrilegious, I know.

Bill Maher's mom Julie is Jewish. She hid that fact from her children during their Catholic upbringing. Bill's mom explained it this way in her son's movie, "Every family is dysfunctional." Bill Maher belittles religion, but oy vey -- what an interesting Jewish show Bill Maher had on HBO this High Holiday weekend.

The panel was three middle aged Jewish guys talking like they were naked in the Shvitz. I watched the re-emergence of an energized and laughing Elliot Spitzer, a serious and smart Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman, and Bill Maher who started the evening with "Jew jokes" in his monologue. A Jew can get away with that. Lots of Jews like to joke and ask provocative questions. Bill Maher is no different.

Why would Maher's mom steer clear of announcing her Jewishness? In that generation, in a western civilization, being Jewish was a death sentence for six million. It did not matter if you followed the faith or had mixed ancestry -- some Jewish blood was enough to get you killed.

Look at Roman Polanski's family. His parents were reportedly agnostic, but his father was a Polish Jew who married a Catholic. The Palonski family got devastated by the Nazis -- too much Jewish blood. Ghettos and concentration camps were part of the famous director's childhood culminating in the murder of his mother at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Roman Polanski committed statutory rape in 1977 at Jack Nicholson's home in Los Angeles. It is not speculation -- he admitted it in a California court before he fled to France to avoid sentencing. Among other things, Polanski left behind at the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese's Holy Cross Cemetery the interred remains of his slaughtered wife Sharon Tate and their posthumously-named son Paul Richard Polanski.

Yom Kippur is Judaism's most serious and important day; Jews are commanded to abstain from anything connected to work and atone for their sins and pray for forgiveness. The Day of Atonement began at sundown on Sept. 27 this year. On last Sunday's Kol Nidre evening (when Jews go to synagogue to renounce promises they will not keep), Roman Polanski was to be the recipient of the Golden Eye award at the Zurich Film Festival. He never made it. The Swiss government, Los Angeles law enforcement and perhaps G-d had other plans for Roman Polanski.

Here in Denver, we have billboards and a prominent radio personality questioning the birth status of President Barack Obama. Fewer than half of Republicans believe Obama was born in the United States. They refuse to accept the word of Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, who declared she has inspected the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barrack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen.

Stanley Ann Dunham came from Christian heritage but was agnostic. Our president's father was also apparently agnostic but had Islamic heritage. Obama bashers love to question every detail of his upbringing and heritage. So did Barack Obama, who came to terms with the mysteries of his youth in his famous memoir, Dreams from My Father. In that book, Barack Obama describes in detail his decision to become a Christian.

Something on the original birth certificate supposedly poses a problem for the president. Could it be that his mother was protecting him in some way, by claiming he was white or some other half-truth about his heritage? Could it be that baby Barack's religion was noted as Islam? Would this have precluded Obama's ascendency to our nation's leader? More ominously, would an indication of Islam at birth warrant a death sentence from Muslims who believe apostasy carries this consequence?

Here in Denver, many of us mourn the death of the Rocky Mountain News. Before it died, the Rocky's conservative editorial board had some sage suggestions for the birthers:

May we offer some advice? Get a life. It appears that the phenomenon known as Bush Derangement Syndrome - with unhinged left-wingers willing to believe any scurrilous rumor about the 43rd president - has a mirror image on the right.

Some claim that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and his birth certificate was faked. Others concede he was born in Hawaii but say he gave up his U.S. citizenship at age 6 when his mother, who married a citizen of Indonesia, moved the family to that nation.

It's difficult to believe rational adults can take these allegations seriously (and they have in fact been debunked). Obama served eight years in the Illinois legislature and most of one term in the U.S. Senate. If he were not a citizen, don't you think at least one of his campaign opponents would have found the proof to make that charge stick?

Even if the facts were murky, however, what possible point is there to raising them at this time? Does anyone seriously believe a court is going to try to bar from office the candidate chosen as president by a clear majority of voters? What do these zealots want, civil disorder?

Lineage and religion -- they are killer topics.
Read more: Roman Polanski Arrest, Eliot Spitzer, Bill Maher, Religulous, Barack Obama Birth Certificate Controversy, Obama Birthers, Paul Krugman, Judaism, Denver News

Bill Maher And Jay Leno Read Sexual Emails From Politicians (VIDEO)

2009-09-29T09:40:04Z
Bill Maher was Jay Leno's guest last night on his fledgling show, and while Leno is now in primetime, Maher brought a certain late night attitude to the program by suggesting the pair read the highly sexualized emails of Republican Governor Mark Sanford and Republican Representative Mark Foley. While Leno read the sugary love letters Sanford sent to his Argentinian mistress, Maher read the IMs Foley sent to his underage pages. Guess which were more disturbing.

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Read more: Bill Maher, Mark Foley, Mark Sanford, Mark Foley IMs, Video, Jay Leno, Mark Sanford Love Letters, Bill Maher on Jay Leno, Bill Maher and Jay Leno, Jay Leno Bill Maher, Bill Maher Jay Leno, Leno Maher, Comedy News

Krugman: "I Was Kind Of Hoping Obama Might Be FDR, But Maybe Not" (VIDEO)

2009-09-26T00:33:01Z
On "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday night, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said that while the American dream is not totally dead, it is "dying pretty fast," particularly when it comes to social mobility. Krugman made this statement during a lengthy discussion with former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and host Bill Maher about the troubled state of the American economy and where we are in terms of reforming the system.

Both Krugman and Spitzer expressed optimism that America could right itself in the coming years if the correct steps were taken, but they were also highly critical of the degree of inequality that has become a part of American life and the lack of reform that has so far taken place.

"On bad mornings I wake up and think that we are turning into a Latin American country," Krugman said. "But on good mornings I think, well this is America, we have always in the past managed to turn ourselves around, and there is an FDR just around the corner if we could only find him. I was kind of hoping Obama might be FDR, but maybe not. "

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Read more: Paul Krugman, Eliot Spitzer, Bill Maher, Business News

Bill Maher: New Rule: If America Can't Get it Together, We Lose the Bald Eagle

2009-09-25T08:36:50Z
New Rule: If America can't get its act together, it must lose the bald eagle as our symbol and replace it with the YouTube video of the puppy that can't get up. As long as we're pathetic, we might as well act like it's cute. I don't care about the president's birth certificate, I do want to know what happened to "Yes we can." Can we get out of Iraq? No. Afghanistan? No. Fix health care? No. Close Gitmo? No. Cap-and-trade carbon emissions? No. The Obamas have been in Washington for ten months and it seems like the only thing they've gotten is a dog.

Well, I hate to be a nudge, but why has America become a nation that can't make anything bad end, like wars, farm subsidies, our oil addiction, the drug war, useless weapons programs - oh, and there's still 60,000 troops in Germany - and can't make anything good start, like health care reform, immigration reform, rebuilding infrastructure. Even when we address something, the plan can never start until years down the road. Congress's climate change bill mandates a 17% cut in greenhouse gas emissions... by 2020! Fellas, slow down, where's the fire? Oh yeah, it's where I live, engulfing the entire western part of the United States!

We might pass new mileage standards, but even if we do, they wouldn't start until 2016. In that year, our cars of the future will glide along at a breathtaking 35 miles-per-gallon. My goodness, is that even humanly possible? Cars that get 35 miles-per-gallon in just six years? Get your head out of the clouds, you socialist dreamer! "What do we want!? A small improvement! When do we want it!? 2016!"

When it's something for us personally, like a laxative, it has to start working now. My TV remote has a button on it now called "On Demand". You get your ass on my TV screen right now, Jon Cryer, and make me laugh. Now! But when it's something for the survival of the species as a whole, we phase that in slowly.

Folks, we don't need more efficient cars. We need something to replace cars. That's what's wrong with these piddly, too-little-too-late half-measures that pass for "reform" these days. They're not reform, they're just putting off actually solving anything to a later day, when we might by some miracle have, a) leaders with balls, and b) a general populace who can think again. Barack Obama has said, "If we were starting from scratch, then a single-payer system would probably make sense." So let's start from scratch.

Even if they pass the shitty Max Baucus health care bill, it doesn't kick in for 4 years, during which time 175,000 people will die because they're not covered, and about three million will go bankrupt from hospital bills. We have a pretty good idea of the Republican plan for the next three years: Don't let Obama do anything. What kills me is that that's the Democrats' plan, too.

We weren't always like this. Inert. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law and 11 months later seniors were receiving benefits. During World War II, virtually overnight FDR had auto companies making tanks and planes only. In one eight year period, America went from JFK's ridiculous dream of landing a man on the moon, to actually landing a man on the moon.

This generation has had eight years to build something at Ground Zero. An office building, a museum, an outlet mall, I don't care anymore. I'm tempted to say that, symbolically, all America can do lately is keep digging a hole, but Ground Zero doesn't represent a hole. It is a hole. America: Home of the Freedom Pit. Ironically, it's spitting distance from Wall Street, where they knock down buildings a different way - through foreclosure.

That's the ultimate sign of our lethargy: millions thrown out of their homes, tossed out of work, lost their life savings, retirements postponed - and they just take it. 30% interest on credit cards? It's a good thing the Supreme Court legalized sodomy a few years ago.

Why can't we get off our back? Is it something in the food? Actually, yes. I found out something interesting researching last week's editorial on how we should be taxing the unhealthy things Americans put into their bodies, like sodas and junk foods and gerbils. Did you know that we eat the same high-fat, high-carb, sugar-laden shit that's served in prisons and in religious cults to keep the subjects in a zombie-like state of lethargic compliance? Why haven't Americans arisen en masse to demand a strong public option? Because "The Bachelor" is on. We're tired and our brain stems hurt from washing down French fries with McDonald's orange drink.

The research is in: high-fat diets makes you lazy and stupid. Rats on an American diet weren't motivated to navigate their maze and once in the maze they made more mistakes. And, instead of exercising on their wheel, they just used it to hang clothes on. Of course we can't ban assault rifles - we're the first generation too lazy to make its own coffee. We're the generation that invented the soft chocolate chip cookie: like a cookie, only not so exhausting to chew. I ask you, if the food we're eating in America isn't making us stupid, how come the people in Carl's Jr. ads never think to put a napkin over their pants?

Bill Maher is host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher"
Read more: Supreme Court, Wall Street, Ondemand, Jon Cryer, Cap-and-Trade, Washington, Max Baucus, Youtube, Medicare, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lyndon Johnson, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Ground Zero, Fdr, Bill Maher New Rule, Real Time With Bill Maher, Bill Maher, Comedy News

Lesley Stern: How To Live On $0 A Day: This Could Be the Best Health Care Reform Plan You're Gonna Get

2009-09-25T05:04:08Z
Regardless of how the health care debate turns out, one thing has become very clear. We're going to have to step up and start taking care of our own health. The people spending over 60 million dollars to debate it sure won't.

The obvious place to start is establishing some new habits to prevent any diseases and ailments that an insurance company would cancel your policy over (if you had one).

I went to the Department of Health and Human Services website to get some guidance. Turns out, a lot of their ideas are a little pricey and currently beyond many Americans' means (unless they're an insurance company executive.) I've taken the HHS guidelines and translated them into measures that your average financially strapped American can incorporate into their life.

Nutrition

Everyone from Michelle Obama to Bill Maher has discussed the importance of organic, unrefined, pesticide and antibiotic free, sustainably raised foods. Of course, they're right.

Granted, you can't afford to buy them yourself, but if you have an accessible plot of land and a few seeds, you might want to start growing and selling your own produce for an insanely high price at the local farmers' market. With the profits, you can afford a decent meal. Better yet, save up for a one way ticket to France.

Fitness

It's tough to maintain a fitness regimen when you've had to cancel your gym membership. Especially when you're too depressed to get out of bed.

One exercise that can be performed from any position, including fetal, is to tighten your thighs and butt muscles and release as many times as you can. This will firm leg, buttock muscles and improve blood flow. Leg lifts are particularly effective if you're under a heavy comforter or bed spread, strengthening and toning both the calves, thighs, buttocks and in some cases abs.

Sex is also a good, inexpensive form of exercise that doesn't require getting out of bed (although it may compel you to leave the fetal position). This will require a partner since batteries are costly. Keep the lights out if you still have electricity so your partner doesn't see how out of shape you are.

I know it sounds like hard work, but the health benefits are worth it. And you'll thank me if something happens to draw you out of bed. You wouldn't want the repo man to think you've let yourself go.

Stress control

Stress can kill you. Aside from exercise, the best thing you can do to keep anxiety at bay is to stop answering your phone or opening your mail. Try to avoid thinking, which can cause agitation. Under no circumstances should you tune into anything having to do with the health care debate.

I've heard that hugs reduce stress. If you don't have a significant other, hug a stranger (ask permission first, or it could cause legal problems). If possible, hold out for a really cute, rich one.

Sleep
Ever since I ran out of Ambien and lost my health insurance due to a pre existing condition (I have a uterus), getting a good night sleep has been difficult. Like so many Americans, I lie awake fretting about finding a job, paying my bills and whether or not I have a deadly disease that would be treatable if I could afford a doctor.

It's a well known fact that regular exercise can be very helpful in relieving insomnia. Try the exercises I've listed above.

Spend at least one hour a day out of bed and don't sleep more than five hours during daytime hours. Any more than that makes it difficult to sleep at night.

I don't know about you, but counting sheep doesn't work for me and just makes me crave lamb chops. Try counting insurance executives running from a pitchfork wielding mob or burning in hell. I find it soothing.

Replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones
If you haven't quit smoking yet, you must.. It's not only unhealthy, it's way too expensive. In some states, a pack of cigarettes is the same price as a week's worth of ramen noodles.

Yes, I know smoking is one of the few pleasures you have left. I know quitting is torture, especially if you can't afford Nicorette or Zyban (which can be more expensive than the darn cigarettes). If you need something to do with your hands, take up needlepoint, biting your fingernails (also an excellent source of protein) or shoplifting. If you find yourself missing the feeling of inhaling the soothing tendrils of smoke, consider chasing cars, which is also an excellent form of exercise.

With the money you save on cigarettes, you might even be able to afford an organically grown, pesticide-free, apple a day.

Check ups and inoculations
If you're insured and it doesn't require a co-payment to get shots and check ups, by all means, take advantage of it. But be warned, the check ups can have dangerous side effects, often leading to expensive tests, illness, and in some cases, death. Worse, sometimes they can result in bankruptcy. If you can't afford the check ups and shots, try not to think about it. It'll just stress you out.

Read more: Healthy Living, Depression, Lifestyle, Department of Health and Human Services, Humor, Economy, Economic Crisis, Health Insurance, Advice, Wellness, Recession, Financial Meltdown, Organic Food, Prevention, Exercise, Health, Satire, Insomnia, Living, Quit Smoking, Healthcare Reform, Health Care, Comedy, Sleep, Michelle Obama, Bill Maher, Comedy News

Maher Rips Baucus Bill: "I'm Going To Start Going To Town Halls And Screaming Now" (VIDEO)

2009-09-19T00:21:38Z
Bill Maher opened his show Friday night with a blistering monologue that took aim at the health care bill Senator Max Baucus released this week.

"It's everything you could want in a reform bill, you know, except reform," Maher said. "It is a watered-down, ineffectual blow job to the health insurance industry."

Maher then went on to joke that he was so frustrated by what was in the bill that he was going to start going to "town halls and screaming now."

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Read more: Health Care Reform, Real Time With Bill Maher, Video, Health Care, Bill Maher, Comedy News

Carter Racism Charge Triggers Next U.S. Race Debate

2009-09-17T10:26:50Z
In asserting that some Obama foes are prejudiced, the ex-president rekindles a difficult discussion. The right sees it as a way to squelch legitimate opposition to administration policies.

Former President Jimmy Carter's assertion that racism is behind much of the political opposition to President Obama marks a stunning moment in America's centuries-old racial drama.
Read more: Confederacy, Birthers, Tea Party Protests, Rush Limbaugh, Kanye West, President Obama, John Rich, Eric Holder, Bill Maher, Taylor Swift, Sean Hannity, Hank Johnson, Joe Wilson, Michael Steele, American South, Racism, Jimmy Carter, Robert Gibbs, Politics News

New York Comedy Festival: Top Nine Reasons to See Bill Maher Perform at the 2009 NYCF

2009-09-16T09:59:56Z
9. Glenn Beck hates everything Maher stands for. That should be enough.

8. Finally you can be the "funny one," re-Tweeting Maher's wry observations with the speed and dexterity of a twenty-year-old.

7. Maher is even more convincing live than on television. Bring your innocuously racist uncle for a re-education.

6. It sounds very bourgeois to tell people you're "catching a show at Avery Fisher in Lincoln Center."

5. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report don't tape on Sunday. What are you supposed to debate with your co-workers on Monday?

4. Maher is number thirty-eight on Comedy Central's list of the "100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time." Statistically speaking, he's sixty-two percent better than Gallagher. Plus, he won't spray you with watermelon debris.

3. Since Dennis Miller became a conservative and Al Franken a senator, Maher is part of an endangered breed of political commentator.

2. ...Because you're a part of the liberal media bias!

1. Until HBO develops 3-D broadcasting, the best and only way to see Bill Maher in all his dimensional glory is at the 2009 New York Comedy Festival.
Read more: New York Comedy Festival, Glenn Beck, Bill Maher, Nycf, Comedy News

Kathy Griffin & Richard Clarke's Teeth-Licking Flirtfest On Maher (VIDEO)

2009-09-15T08:40:46Z
Move over Levi Johnston, Kathy Griffin is hot for Richard Clarke! The comedienne made a few unsubtle advances at the global terrorism expert on Bill Maher Friday night, begging him to stop eying her rack and trying to start a discussion about his penis. Clarke, who is unmarried, egged her on by suggestively wagging his tongue and licking his teeth and lips at her.

"Are you getting more interested in dating Kathy Griffin?" Maher asked him.

"Oh, I've been interested for a long time!" Clarke responded.

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Bill Maher Challenges Obama: "Stand Up For The 70 Percent Of Americans Who Aren't Crazy" (VIDEO)

2009-09-12T00:59:17Z
On "Real Time" Friday night, host Bill Maher closed his show with some sharp words for the Obama administration with regards to how they have responded to criticism from figures such as Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.

Maher called the White House "cowards" for allowing Van Jones to resign following a series of right-wing attacks and for capitulating to those who complained about the nature of Obama's back-to-school speech.

"The Democrats just never learn. Americans don't really care which side of an issue you're on as long as you don't act like pussies," Maher said.

Maher then criticized Obama for trying to win over those who vehemently disagree with him, insisting that the president should instead "stand up for the 70 percent of Americans who aren't crazy."

"When are we going to actually show up in all this," Maher said.

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Bill Maher: New Rule: Conspiracy Weary

2009-09-08T16:58:35Z
New Rule: The Obama Birthers, the 9/11 Truthers, and the mood landing deniers must merge their theories ...

Check out Real Time with Bill Maher live Fridays at 10PM ET/PT - Only On HBO.
Read more: Birthers, Video, Bill Maher, Bill Maher on Birthers, Bill Maher on Conspiracy Theorists, 9/11 Truthers, New Rule, Comedy News