Ars Politica: November 2007 Archives
Gratifyingly, readers of this blog have responded with some great comments to the post Are We Smarter & Better than the British on National Health Care . . . ?
Thank you! Keep them coming, and please take the poll located at the end of this post -- thanks again!
If you're like you me, a normal everyday intelligent but non-expert person, you probably find the issues surrounding health care to be wide, large, complicated, confusing, and -- last but not least -- highly, seriously, contentious (and for good and obvious reasons):
First see: Michael Moore attacks Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Criticism of SICKO.
Then see: Dr. Sanjay Gupta's response to Michael Moore.
Finally, check out the debate between these two men on Larry King Live.
You don't have to be an health care expert to see that the current system is rife with problems (problems that are even more grave than "too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country").
While I think the "solution" is harder to see, others think the answer is more or less straightforward, i.e., more government involvement and control . . .
But is that solution really so clear?
Mother reportedly tells police she, stepfather beat 2-year-old to death
I've never really been "for" the death penalty (unless someone confesses to a pre-mediated murder and the person is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt), but in this case,
right now,
right this very MOMENT!!!!! . . .
yeah, I'm WAY for the f***ing death penalty
. . . and if a harsher penalty existed, I'd be for that TOO!
I also found this great clip that brings us all up to date on where the current thinking on the effect of the Sun is:
A new scientific study concludes that changes in the Sun's output cannot be causing climate change
The clip is short (here's a longer treatment, No Sun link' to climate change), but it states that for years a small minority of scientist have blamed global warming on increased solar activity and comic rays rather than on CO2 emissions, but new finding appear to prove conclusively that the sun is NOT to blame.
This is pretty convincing stuff -- it's convinced the Liberal Values blog (e.g., The BBC has . . . further debunking of the claim that global warming is caused by the sun as opposed to human activities) and it's convinced Wired Science's Fraser Cain (e.g., There is no connection between global warming and cosmic rays. That's because there's no trend in cosmic rays. It's completely bogus).
If you just read the blogs and BBC News, then you'll think you've got it all straight, and that you can comfortably come to the conclusion that "WE KNOW" there is no meaningful connection between global warming and the sun.
However, I just heard this the other day: Cosmic rays may have a substantial influence on Earth's climate.
~ See Wesley J. Smith's Secondhand Smoke post about nationalized health care and the necessary evil of rationing . . .
Liberal Values makes good start in defending Democratic health care plans against a slew of conservative bloggers, but -- it doesn't go far enough. It's start, but that's all it is.
I'm sure the post is correct that there are significant differences between the British & Canadian plans and the plans advocated by Democratic candidates.
But this raises a host of troubling questions:
Oh goodie! Report: Wars cost average U.S. family $20,000
Laurence Kotlikoff's latest article in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review has instigated a flurry of commentary on the state of domestic policies. Kotlikoff poses the question, "Is the United States Bankrupt?" In Kotlikoff's view, the United States is not yet in bankruptcy, but -- it's headed that way:
Countries can and do go bankrupt. The United States, with its $65.9 trillion fiscal gap, seems clearly headed down that path. The country needs to stop shooting itself in the foot.
