The Individual Mandate is radical alteration of the social contract

The Individual Mandate is radical alteration of the social contract
Part of the health care reform bill currently being debated by the House of Representatives is the  individual mandate.  By this provision, everyone would be required — by law — to have health insurance, or else be charged with a criminal offense and face fines or [...]

Prioritizing Flu Vaccine: Individual Patient vs. Aggregate Rules

This is a fairly big issue and I’ll probably devote more than one post to it.
In recent days newspaper headlines have made misleading statements that relate to how to ‘prioritize’ swine flu vaccine (potentially demand will exceeed supply).
For example, one headline today ran “Flu vaccine to pregnant women first“. What the study in question [...]

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself – 2009

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself – 2009
The famous words, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” come from the first inaugural address of Franklin D. Roosevelt (March 4, 1933). These comments, of course, were made in the midst of the Great Depression. The parallels between those times and [...]

Advice for President Obama: Let America Reach Out to Developing Countries

Advice for President Obama:  Let America Reach Out to Developing Countries
Yesterday I saw a photo of Obama’s face.  His expression looked concerned.  It looked like a man who is truly idealistic and trying hard, but finding all his best efforts frustrated.
That’s probably the case.  Obama seems like a genuine idealist at heart.  Unfortunately, he’s also, [...]

Latest Pope Bashing by the Media

Latest Pope Bashing by the Media
Eager to seize even the slightest pretense for bashing the Pope, news media, European governments, and even medical journals have taken his recent comments about African AIDS completely out of context.
The Lancet even went so far as to accuse His Holiness of “manipulating science” and having “publicly distorted scientific [...]

Gaza Protests: Keep Them Peaceful!

Today in many European cities there were demonstrations against the Israeli assault on Gaza.
That is a good thing.  There was a large demonstration in Brussels, as a matter of fact.  I noticed many people walking down Anspach Boulevard, apparently on the way back from the protest.  It still had the character of a protest march, [...]

Who to Vote For?

Who to Vote For?
Okay, it’s coming down to the wire and you’re still undecided.
A suggestion:  vote for a third-party candidate (like Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate, or Ralph Nader).
Let’s quickly review the logic:
1.  You probably don’t like McCain or Obama much, or else you wouldn’t be here.
2.  It’s no coincidence that the main party candidates [...]

The Commission on Presidential Debates

The Commission on Presidential Debates: A National Scandal
Following up on the previous post, I did a little research on the mysterious Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which organizes the televised presidential debates.
The sordid details of this Commission supply the most tangible, unequivocal evidence imaginable that the Republican and Democratic parties are a duopoly, collaborating [...]

Open the Presidential Debates to Third Parties!

Open the Presidential Debates to Third Parties!
A recent Zogby poll showed that most American voters would like to see the Libertarian party presidential candidate, Bob Barr, participate in the presidential debates.
However, the Commission on Presidential Debates refuses to allow this. They require that a candidate meet two inclusion criteria:  (1) that their name appears on [...]

Towards Positive US-Iran Cultural Relations

I am a citizen of the United States and a representative of the American Nation of people. The US Government is merely an administrative unit which has vastly overreached its legitimate powers. Unfortunately most Americans — and perhaps most people elsewhere — confuse the US Government with the American Nation. The former is [...]