Health Care and Financial Crisis

In the July/August 2011 issue of Public Citizen News Dr. Sidney Wolfe, co-founder and director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group was asked, "What is the key to solving the crisis of health?"

"Eliminating the private insurance industry and having a Medicare-for-All (single-payer) system would save upwards of $400 billion a year and provide enough money to cover all Americans."

My brother is a doctor. I asked him the same question a year ago. He gave the same answer, adding that, as a doctor, he would not like it, because he would be locked into the rates set by a single entity, but as a consumer and citizen, he thought it was the way to go.

Four hundred billion dollars a year in savings. How is it that we do not make this a litmus test for our Senators and Congressmen? There may be reasonable arguments against a single-payer system, but do they stack up against saving $400 billion dollars a year?

Minority Representation and its Limits

The Senate can slow government down to a crawl.

It's actually designed to do so.

There are good arguments for it.

Minorities don't get trampled thanks to the Senate.

However in the last twenty years the Senate has become so bipartisan, so devoid of diplomacy, that it is impeding basic governance. The New Yorker article by George Packer gives an in-depth look at the obfuscation and recalcitrance that has replaced what was once a legislative body.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/09/100809fa_fact_packer

The New York Times editorial explains why Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall's Senate Reform Proposal deserves consideration. Read the editorial. Read the proposal. If you agree, call your Senators immediately. Ask them to support it.

The first day of the Senate is the only day, each year, the Senate rules can be amended.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/opinion/03mon1.html

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/Senate_Procedures_Reform.pdf

Embarrass Us

A ten-year old girl embarrassed her family and her village.

She objected to being raped.

Nujood Ali is a young girl in Yemen. In 2008 she was ten years old when her father married her off to a lecherous man in his 30's. Her father worried for her safety in a land where some village elders, the wise men of the community, considered rape an inconsequential crime, an act easily rectified by marrying the child to the rapist. Nujood's father had already had one daughter go through this terror and didn't want to see it happen again. So her father married her to an old man, who proceeded to rape her....oh, sorry, have sex with her....night after night. Amazingly, Nujood, after several months, escaped to a nearby city where judges actually listened to her, and granted her a divorce.

I am not sure what is more striking, that Nujood escaped or that the judges listened to her. The judges actually listened and granted her a divorce. There is hope for men, maybe. Though I pray to the gods, Women, don't let up, don't acquiesce, don't be silent, don't be submissive. Our species won't survive if you do.

Some of the men in her family are embarrassed by all the attention. Why couldn't she just suck it up, take the rape and act like a good girl.

Nujood has much attention thanks to many strong women in her life, not the least of whom is Delphine Minoui, who helped Nujood write about her young life. With some luck, she may grace us with a long life.

"I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced"

Embarrassment may be our only salvation.

George Clooney is banking on embarrassment preventing the Sudan from descending into civil war, if not another genocide. He and John Prendergast and others have raised almost a million dollars to hire satellites in the sky to watch the troops live, in action, and broadcast the feed immediately for the world to see.

www.satsentinel.org

Sadly, people who hate other people aren't usually embarrassed by their hatred. In fact, publicizing it often fuels their resolve.

It leaves me embarrassed for us.

Journalists, Our Guardians, Need Our Help

Natalia Estemirova is dead.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/15/natalia-estemirova-killin_n_234021.html

Anna Politkovskaya is dead.
http://www.annapolitkovskaya.com/

Stanislav Markelov is dead.
http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/01/grigory_pasko_rip_stanislav_markelov_1974-2009.htm

Anastasia Baburova is dead.
http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13055783

They were all murdered.
We should remember them.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee are still alive.
Imprisoned, but alive.
Help them.

http://www.lauraandeuna.com/

Happy Easter

Just caught wind of this video happening.
People catching a train station by surprise, singing and dancing.
Warmed my heart.

http://video.yahoo.com/network/100000089?v=4816051&l=100022574

Embarrassed to be in auto management

When I see ads touting 35 or 40 miles per gallon, I have to wonder who would say proudly, head held high, "I'm in upper management of a car company, and we've just increased fuel efficiency by five miles per gallon!" Do they seriously think that is exciting, note worthy, something to write home about?

Give me 100 miles per gallon. Then I'll cheer. Give me 100 miles per gallon at $20,000 and I'll buy a car today. I think you'd see a stampede. Even at $30,000 you'd be doing well. You probably wouldn't keep up with demand. But make it $20,000 and 100 miles per gallon and you'll turn the industry on its head.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Transportation/2008-08-01/MAX-100-MPG-Car.aspx

Gay Rights

There's a beautiful slide show of people who care deeply about each other. They all happen to be gay.

http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce

Last November Californians (with the deep financial help of some wealthy Utahians) passed Proposition 8, which restricts the marriage rights of gay people. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is no different than discrimination based on racial identity. Both stink and we should be raising the rafters to eliminate them.

A majority of people recognize that racial discrimination is morally wrong, even if they are not comfortable with people outside their own race. We need to get to that point with sexual discrimination.

Homophobic behavior is morally wrong. It's a moral issue. People are born homosexual. Discriminating against them is no different than discriminating against someone with yellow skin or green eyes or a low IQ or a wide forehead. Discriminating against people because they are different from us is so plainly wrong one wonders why it needs to be said.

Homophobia is stupid at best and evil at worst. And it's a feeling. I have homophobic friends and I simply feel sorry for them because they limit their circle of friends with this short sightedness. I don't debate the issue much with them. I don't try to convert them. People can have pretty much any feelings they want. We're frequently prisoners of our feelings.

But legislated homophobic behavior is discrimination. We must raise the rafters and stop it.