First Looks category archive
Words Have Meaning 0
Winston Pickett, writing at the Guardian, on myths about those who commit crimes of hate.
A nugget:
End the politics of hate. Disavow those who feed the hate.
Twits on Twitter 0
Details here. A couple of days old, but still relevant.
Traditional Marriage Reprise 0
Dick Polman (emphasis added):
New Hampshire became the sixth state to legalize gay marriage, but we should at least pause to note the significance of this news. New Hampshire is a former Republican bastion – or, as we used to say a generation ago, “a rock-ribbed” Republican bastion – that has now become a swing state dominated by its burgeoning population of independent voters. Increasingly, New Hampshire’s elected leaders act in ways that mirror the mood of those independent voters.
Like I said, “Done deal.”
Historiography 0
DougJ asks for readers to explain to him the conservative view of the Renaissance.
Follow the link. Read the responses.
We Need Single Payer 0
The chain, which also operates as Happy Harry’s in Delaware, said it will drop out of the state-federal health insurance program for low-income people as of July 6. The chain has 66 Delaware locations, the most of any pharmacy chain in the state.
Not taking a stand on this particular contretemps–follow the link for an article that sets out the arguments of both the state and Walgreens, the issue here is really something else.
Both federal and state governments have been attacking their budgetary costs for medical aid at the wrong end, by limiting payments to doctors, hospitals, drugstores, and other providers.
The issue is at the other end, where the care starts, not where it ends, with a system that pushes the costs for doctors and drugstores and nurses and so on much higher than it needs to be. The University of Maine reports the following (PDF–click on the excerpt for the full report; it’s chock full of facts):
It’s not the cost of doctors and nurses and pharmicists that’s outrageous. It’s the cost of admininistrators, particularly “insurance” administrators, and prescription drugs (PDF) that are out of control. Reducing payments to doctors, nurses, and pharmacists mops up the blood without stopping the bleeding.
Scary 0
Fanaticism is a frightening thing, for it clothes itself in righteousness.
And, armed, it is even more frightening.
Twits on Twitter 0
Tony LaRussa sues Twitter.
From ESPN:
The account bearing La Russa’s name is no longer active. The lawsuit includes a screen shot of three tweets. One posted on April 19 said: “Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher.”
Internal Contradictions: The Dialectic of Republicanism 0
From Kiko’s House:
That, it seems to me, is a central contradiction of today’s GOP, and while it might have been a winning formula during the Reagan Revolution, that political movement was never what it was cracked up to be and has long had a stake through its heart despite the frequent evocation of the Gipper by party elders longing for the good old days. In other words, winning elections.
I would take things a step or two further than Gates and suggest that today’s GOP is not just about generating personal wealth, but about keeping it from anyone who does not march to its own beat. These include a strangled middle class, people who lack the resources to get well when they fall ill, and that rising immigrant class, many of them illegals.
The nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has revealed the Republican Party at its most crass, hypocritical and vulnerable.
Landmarks 1
Second Son turned 21 today.
I expect his friends will pour him through the door sometime this evening.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Not.
John Cole on rage with guns.
I will add that this act, though some would describe it as “terrorist,” doesn’t seem to have been done with any political goal in mind and, baring additional information, fails the definition of “terrorism.”