Posting

I haven't been posting very often lately. I'm in the process of re-doing my blog so while I'm working on that and deciding how to deal with the material I want to post I won't be posting on blogspot.

The Health Care bill and inequality

David Leonhardt: In Health Care Bill, Obama Attacks Wealth Inequality

David Brooks: Getting Obama Right

From the New York Times:

The fact is, Obama is as he always has been, a center-left pragmatic reformer. Every time he tries to articulate a grand philosophy — from his book “The Audacity of Hope” to his joint-session health care speech last September — he always describes a moderately activist government restrained by a sense of trade-offs. . .

In a sensible country, people would see Obama as a president trying to define a modern brand of moderate progressivism. In a sensible country, Obama would be able to clearly define this project without fear of offending the people he needs to get legislation passed. But we don’t live in that country. We live in a country in which many people live in information cocoons in which they only talk to members of their own party and read blogs of their own sect. They come away with perceptions fundamentally at odds with reality, fundamentally misunderstanding the man in the Oval Office.

Dang, this man is funny

Colin Powell on CBS

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Glenn Beck: Self-educated genius

Leaving the irrelevant and inaccurate rant about how successful people are hated and persecuted, I do give him a some credit that in this speech he's at least honest about the real health care debate. The real question is: should we let someone die or go bankrupt because they can't afford otherwise available health care? The real conservative answer is, "Yes," not, "Stop the secret Muslim, anti-white, elitist gay-married Nazi, reparations death panels."

It would be nice if he always spoke this clearly.

So much for runaway inflation

Reuters: Consumer prices rise marginally, core falls

Consumer prices rose less than expected in January, while prices excluding food and energy fell for the first time since 1982 . . .

Kinda cool

Link

Idiots

SLTrib: Utah House OKs roadblocks for federal health reform

The Utah House approved a bill Thursday that would require the Legislature and governor to sign off before state agencies follow mandates under any federally enacted health care reforms.

BYU Economist on children losing health insurance

This is old, but I hadn't seen it before. Interesting.
From BYU Newsroom:

A new study concludes that ongoing efforts to cut the costs of a program that provides low-income children with health insurance would send more kids to the emergency room and increase the total cost of care by $2,121 per child each year.

I wonder how this applies to the general population.

The Vice Guide to North Korea

An independent news organization gets a couple of guys into North Korea as tourists who illegally film a documentary with a point-and-shoot camera. Very interesting and revealing.


Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Update: The embed code doesn't seem to be working, but I've added links so you can at least watch the videos on the VBS.tv site.

America's great. Except for the South

Alabama Senator Richard Shelby (R) blocking ALL Obama nominations:
Over defense pork projects . . . Tell me again why it's the Democrats who are irresponsibly bringing us to ruin? It's definitely time to change the Senate rules.

Shelby is holding Obama's nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track. The two programs Shelby wants to move forward or else:

- A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers . . .

- An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI . . .

John Marshall:

In this case, we're not dealing with a stand on partisanship or ideology or simple political shiv play which I guess can each be respected in their own place. This is more like just a stick up. Gimme my money and I'll give you your Senate back! Worse than a squeegee man and not much better than a bank robber, Shelby is shutting down the president's ability to appoint anyone to anything until he gets his way.

Worth watching

W. Davis: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World



There are a lot of good questions brought up here, as well as a generally interesting subject. Worth watching if you have time, or at least throwing on the iPod and listening to during "transit" time (driving, walking home, whatever).

Whoa

Every once in awhile I read something that absolutely floors me. I don't know why this particular article thrills me so much, but I seriously feel like a gazillion light bulbs just got turned on in my head. Probably nothing new here for some of you, but I'm excited.

New Scientist: Viruses: The unsung heroes of evolution

[T]he era of genomics has unexpectedly revealed a much richer picture of viruses as a creative evolutionary force of unparalleled reach and power. "Everywhere you look, viruses seem to be playing a crucial role in evolution," says Luis Villarreal, director of the Center for Virus Research at the University of California, Irvine. "I would argue that they are the most creative genetic entities that we know of."

Oh, Canada

Paul Krugman: Good and Boring

In times of crisis, good news is no news. Iceland’s meltdown made headlines; the remarkable stability of Canada’s banks, not so much. . .

Yes, I know, Canada is supposed to be dull. The New Republic famously pronounced “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” (from a Times Op-Ed column in the ’80s) the world’s most boring headline . . . [But] when it comes to banking, boring is good.

Financial Times on the Budget, short-term deficits

FT.com - Budget distractions

Sadly, reckless politicians have persuaded voters that runaway deficits threaten their livelihoods more than a renewed slowdown. This makes the administration sound a bit like a small European country eager to reassure Brussels: it wants to cut the deficit to 4 per cent of GDP within three years.

Such a large swing is fine if growth proves robust, but dangerous if it does not, which is far from unlikely. Unemployment is likely to stay above 9 per cent into 2011. . .

Nice

Full segment here

A link to the quote/video referred to.

Sen. Tom Udall on changing the Senate rules

Plus he's a Mormon, so that's kinda cool.

Hat Tip: Paul Krugman

This is worth watching

Update: GOP Dismayed by Obama's Strong Performance

Peace through education

Just real quick. I just listened to this talk given last semester at BYU by Greg Mortenson. I was in bed even, and I got up to post it so I wouldn't forget. Anyway, it's very worth listening to. Just do it, don't ask questions. Now! Chop-chop!