thoughts, rants, and otherwise about the passing world
Posted in economy, health, history, politics on Jan 25th, 2010
This week’s decision by the US Supreme Court to allow corporations, including unions, to hold full rights to free speech and political action under the First Amendment to the Constitution once again reminds me of the strange practical and ethical relationship we have with corporations. In the 1886 ruling, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific [...]
President Obama’s speech on accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 2009 has generally been reviewed in the US with much glow about its rhetorical heights and appreciation of its depth of thought. I did not watch Obama give this speech. Instead, I turned to the text which I could read at my leisure [...]
Posted in book reviews, politics on Oct 17th, 2009
The current New York Review of Books has an article by James Bamford, “Who’s in Big Brother’s Database” that reviews the new book by Mathew M. Aid, The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency . I have gotten in line at my local library to read this book and will make [...]
Acknowledge the basic facts about how the healthcare system is working today.
Yesterday in a radio interview, “How to conquer health care challenges”, with Professor Glenn Melnick from the Rand Corporation and USC, we were again offered up “expert” opinion that does not even acknowledge the basic facts about how the healthcare system is working today.
Here are a [...]
Posted in anecdotes on Nov 3rd, 2008
Book Review/Essay 2/97
(revised 1/29/02 – maps added at bottom)
(revised 6/25/03 – map of Angola superimposed on the US)
Michael Crichton’s 1980 pulp novel Congo opens with an introduction that is truly arresting . [...]
