health care
Week in Review – February 28 - March 6, 2010: Olympic hockey, healthcare, opportunity
08/March/2010 11:47 Filed in: Week in
Review
Can
you believe it just a week ago last Sunday the
winter Olympic Games came to an end? The men’s gold
medal hockey game in which the Canadians defeated
the USA in overtime was the best final in history.
The problem with hockey on television is that it
shares with baseball the excitement of watching
grass grow, except the grass field has been flooded
and frozen into an ice rink. This is contrasted
with live games, where speed and subtle moves can
make hockey one of the most exciting spectator
sports.
At the end of it all, the United States won more metals than any nation in history and the host Canadians won more gold, again setting a record. The games now pit professionals against professionals, which in our age should be because of the dedication required to perform at such a high level of skill.
The same cannot be said of America’s politicians. Sometime this week we expect the final redux of the Democrat’s healthcare reform package. The only thing for sure is that with or without ObamaCare, within a few years American’s will be paying 20 percent of GDP for health services. Then either reform, or reform of the reform, will and should be the nation’s top domestic priority.
It is true that most Americans are happy with their current coverage and don’t want it to change, simply because they get it for free or cheap with their job. So while they can see the doctor of their choice for routine matters, they never really understand the limitations of their current plan if they seriously need something called major medical.
Read More...
At the end of it all, the United States won more metals than any nation in history and the host Canadians won more gold, again setting a record. The games now pit professionals against professionals, which in our age should be because of the dedication required to perform at such a high level of skill.
The same cannot be said of America’s politicians. Sometime this week we expect the final redux of the Democrat’s healthcare reform package. The only thing for sure is that with or without ObamaCare, within a few years American’s will be paying 20 percent of GDP for health services. Then either reform, or reform of the reform, will and should be the nation’s top domestic priority.
It is true that most Americans are happy with their current coverage and don’t want it to change, simply because they get it for free or cheap with their job. So while they can see the doctor of their choice for routine matters, they never really understand the limitations of their current plan if they seriously need something called major medical.
Read More...
Week in Review – February 21-27, 2010: Olympic bobsleds, Chile earthquake, Obamacare
01/March/2010 12:31 Filed in: Week in
Review
Three
obtusely related things peaked our interest this
week. Those three were an episode from the
Vancouver Olympic Games, the earthquake in Chile,
and Obama’s healthcare summit in Washington DC.
Now you may be asking yourself how these three events are related at all, even if the obtuse modifier is used? The thing that ties together all of our points this week, relate to how people respond to an opportunity or a crisis, in our terms stupendous change.
Our zenith of this report was the results of the four man bobsled event at Whistler in which the United States won its first Gold medal since 1948. While that was a worthwhile achievement, what I found really interesting was what happened after the medals presentation, where the Americans were joined by the Silver medal winning Canadians and the Bronze medal Germans.
Before TV cameras all three teams sort of scrunched together for a group photo and in the process you had over 1000 kilos (2200 lbs.) of competitive alpha males getting up close and personal, all smiling like they sort of liked one another. I have searched for a picture of that happening but it doesn’t appear to have gotten significant press attention.
Read More...
Now you may be asking yourself how these three events are related at all, even if the obtuse modifier is used? The thing that ties together all of our points this week, relate to how people respond to an opportunity or a crisis, in our terms stupendous change.
Our zenith of this report was the results of the four man bobsled event at Whistler in which the United States won its first Gold medal since 1948. While that was a worthwhile achievement, what I found really interesting was what happened after the medals presentation, where the Americans were joined by the Silver medal winning Canadians and the Bronze medal Germans.
Before TV cameras all three teams sort of scrunched together for a group photo and in the process you had over 1000 kilos (2200 lbs.) of competitive alpha males getting up close and personal, all smiling like they sort of liked one another. I have searched for a picture of that happening but it doesn’t appear to have gotten significant press attention.
Read More...
The Failure of Success
25/November/2009 11:37 Filed in: Weekly
Column
As I reflect on this last year I am thankful at a
vast and rapidly increasing number of Americans
have learned the reality of the failure of success.
It is sad that this new knowledge has come, as
broad cross sections of society don’t have a clue
of what this means. So how about a few examples.
Healthcare reform as it is now spun is the most apparent case in point. We will do nothing to increase the real healthcare infrastructure. By that I mean no new hospitals, no more doctors and nurses and tangible things like that. Then we are going to insure at least ten percent more people, and save money in the process. Furthermore the federal government is going to provide a cost effective alternative to the greedy insurance companies that are the only crooks in the house.
While we are at it, we are going to save western culture from the onslaught of foreign and domestic Islamic terrorists. But the politically correct definition of this is no longer termed a war, but human induced catastrophes, or something like that. However this salvation can be done by fighting a decade of wars, halfway around the world, with soldiers who thought they were serving their country, but are now legally committed to see these excursions to the end. This while their fellow Americans think of sacrifice as only being able to turn in one perfectly good vehicle in “cash for clunkers.”
But is it too much to ask if you are going to make Afghanistan the hallmark of your war prowess, perhaps early January after your inauguration would be a good time to start a timely review of theater strategies. Then when you get a recommendation from your commander on the ground you can either tell him you support him, he should retire, or these are the tactics you have determined as the best course of action for the United States.
Starting these deliberations once you get a command recommendation and then dithering about a decision for months until early December is absolutely unprecedented in American history. Any statement to the effect of saying that other things were more important than providing safety for American combat forces is completely indefensible and totally dumbfounding. Sadly, I am at a loss for harsher words. Read More...
Healthcare reform as it is now spun is the most apparent case in point. We will do nothing to increase the real healthcare infrastructure. By that I mean no new hospitals, no more doctors and nurses and tangible things like that. Then we are going to insure at least ten percent more people, and save money in the process. Furthermore the federal government is going to provide a cost effective alternative to the greedy insurance companies that are the only crooks in the house.
While we are at it, we are going to save western culture from the onslaught of foreign and domestic Islamic terrorists. But the politically correct definition of this is no longer termed a war, but human induced catastrophes, or something like that. However this salvation can be done by fighting a decade of wars, halfway around the world, with soldiers who thought they were serving their country, but are now legally committed to see these excursions to the end. This while their fellow Americans think of sacrifice as only being able to turn in one perfectly good vehicle in “cash for clunkers.”
But is it too much to ask if you are going to make Afghanistan the hallmark of your war prowess, perhaps early January after your inauguration would be a good time to start a timely review of theater strategies. Then when you get a recommendation from your commander on the ground you can either tell him you support him, he should retire, or these are the tactics you have determined as the best course of action for the United States.
Starting these deliberations once you get a command recommendation and then dithering about a decision for months until early December is absolutely unprecedented in American history. Any statement to the effect of saying that other things were more important than providing safety for American combat forces is completely indefensible and totally dumbfounding. Sadly, I am at a loss for harsher words. Read More...