Cubicle Hermit

via AMERICAblog

First few minutes (in SC) are best… the studio portions with Bill Maher kind of drag.

via Troy on DBA.

I listened to most of the NPR Iowa debate, although I missed about the first 15 minutes.

With the exception of Clinton, it was overall a good performance for those credible candidates there. Clinton came off as a bit too rightist and belligerent, and I was disappointed that Richardson was not there. Of the rest, Biden did better than I expected; I started off pretty much writing him and Dodd off as “boring and not progressive enough” and both of them have been both improving in not being boring and moving to the left.

As for the two minor candidates, I think Kucinich is doing a much better job than Gravel at getting a progressive perspective across without sounding crazy, which is too bad – I was really enjoying Gravel’s perspective early on in the primary cycle, and he’s increasingly just sounding grumpy. Which is justifiable, but is not the way to win voters’ hearts and minds.

My strongest opinion is pretty much “not Clinton” and that’s gotten stronger over the course of the primary race. I’d also love to see either Gravel or Kucinich as a serious contender, but right now I don’t see that happening.

It will be very interesting to see who will still be in by the time the California primary is closer, and if the gap between the top tier (Clinton, Edwards, Obama) and the second (Dodd, Biden, Richardson) narrows. When the time comes I’ll probably tell you who I end up voting for; what I will say now is that I’ve donated a little bit of money each to Edwards and Dodd.

What’s funny is that I don’t remember who I voted for in the 2004 primary; I *think* in the end I voted for Kucinich because Kerry was looking inevitable by the time it got to California. Whomever it was, it was a last-minute decision – I remember liking all three of Kerry, Edwards and Clark well enough to have had a hard choice there.

I am, however, still sad that neither Gore nor Feingold decided to run this time.

Tragic first – we need a real national health system to help prevent crap like this:
When staying alive means going bankrupt

LOMPOC, Calif. – Kathleen Aldrich, financially ruined by two bouts with ovarian cancer, is not who you might assume she is.

She raised three kids as a single mom. She worked hard for years. She had good jobs. She paid her bills. She lived in a nice house and drove a nice car. She had a decent credit rating. She had health insurance.

Now she has a record of bankruptcy and is the embodiment of the fear that nags at millions of U.S. families: that they are but one medical calamity away from losing everything. Like Aldrich, they — and perhaps you — could be.

The meat of the story isn’t captured by the intro though – to sum up, basically, she got screwed over by the combination of insurance companies and doctors not coordinating well, and by switching insurance during treatment. I’m reminded of my own “unpaid medical bill” situation, where the *bleep*ing hospital in Colorado, and (slightly less *bleeping*) HIP were unwilling to talk to get the bill paid. Much smaller bill, but the hospital was still in essentially the same position of throwing the bill to collections and refusing to deal with it.

Funny, although I’m not sure the analogy makes sense (then again, I’m not sure any of the Ninja stuff makes sense. But it’s funny.)

Via OpenLeft, where there is very nice article by the guy behind AskANinja.com to go with the video clip.

PS, yeah I know too much YouTube lately, not nearly enough writing. What can ya do?

Via MyDD

I saw Sicko over the weekend, and thought it was an excellent, if thoroughly depressing, film. I thought it was an excellent piece of polemic for those of us who basically agreed with him. It’s much harder me to tell what impact it would have for those who don’t already agree that the US health care system is fundamentally broken… or for those who think that moving things to a more laissez-faire free market is the solution.

I’d be curious what other folks think.

On a board I read, someone posted the link to this article where an EM physician responds to the film. The person posted it as a disagreement, but while he does take Moore to task for issues he doesn’t address, by and large I think it’s more of a valuable addendum:

Article is at: I Treat the Patients Michael Moore Forgot

In order to keep the length of my quoting reasonable, let me grab the part from the middle where I think he and Moore basically are saying the same thing:

Many Americans oppose a single-payer health care system. My support of this initiative has grown from witnessing inequities daily through years in an emergency room.

I hear the concern about such a system; people worry that they won’t get what they need, that the government will ration health care. But in fact, that’s exactly what we have right now. It’s just a little more subtle, a form of rationing that’s based on a person’s ability to endure hours of anxiety in the ER, to wait for the next medical appointment, to afford high-quality insurance.

So how can we have a public discussion about this subject? This country has limited resources to devote to health care. But it also is saddled with an inefficient health care system that gives advantages to the privileged and well-off while ignoring preventive care and abandoning those most in need.

—
And in a separate note, Marie found a response from Kaiser Permanente to the film:
Kaiser Permanente’s Prominent Role in American Health Care Reform

In this context, Kaiser Permanente’s portrayal in a new movie, “Sicko,” must be corrected. While Kaiser Permanente has always (and will always) welcome new voices to the incredibly important discussion of health care reform, Kaiser Permanente’s 8.7 million members, the communities Kaiser Permanente serves, and the country as a whole, deserve to hear facts that should help clear up misconceptions created by the movie.

No, not metaphorical … this time it’s literal, via Slashdot:

An anonymous reader writes
“This is a cool redistricting game that was launched out of the capitol building in Washington DC last week. It was created by the USC Game Innovation Lab and has been getting lots of press. It’s about time someone took on a tough issue like redistricting reform using the power of the internet.”
It’s crazy that gerrymandering is actually good fodder for a video game.

Worth checking out.

Also of note, lately:
1) Not much here, sorry.
2) I’m starting a class.
3) I’m not traveling anywhere soon, except back east for a family friend’s wedding. Bummer.
4) Today’s big news story seems to have been Mayor Bloomberg leaving the Republican party. Does anyone else think he and Lieberman deserve each other?

I don’t buy this rehabilitation of the Governator, but via DailyKos we get this quote from Meet The Press

MR. RUSSERT: What’s an Arnold Republican?

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, it’s basically being fiscally conservative, being socially moderate and you know, being environmentally progressive

Which is pretty much where I see Gore. Not that he seems to be running in 2008 any more than Schwarzenegger can, but… *lol* …let’s face it, while I *am* a Gore fan it’s for gravitas that’s otherwise lacking in the Democratic field, and for his single-issue leadership on environmental issues.

It would be great to see someone with a more broadly progressive line, and the chops to be a president. Heck, it would be great to see one of the more experienced 2008 contenders take a strong progressive line on a single issue.

British report: Drugs may not be all that bad.
In other news: Pinochet and Franco are still dead.

Illegal drugs can be harmless, report says

Thursday March 8, 2007
Illegal drugs can be “harmless” and should no longer be “demonised”, a wide-ranging two-year study concluded today.

The report said Britain’s drug laws were “not fit for purpose” and should be torn up in favour of a system which recognised that drinking and smoking could cause more harm.

(To make my own opinion perfectly clear: I am in favor of decriminalization of most drugs. Go Britain!)

A great diary on the US health care problem on DailyKos: For-profit healthcare: The ultimate triumph of insanity
(I’m going to skip to the punchline)

Let me end by explaining what in Wall Street speak an “improved” medical-loss ratio means for you and me.

The medical-loss ratio is improved for them by cutting the amount of premium revenues spent on patient care for us. Every dollar that is spent on our healthcare goes against the bottom line. It is bad for Aetna and bad for Wall Street when money is spent on our healthcare.

To the for-profit insurance industry, are not human beings. We are losses. We are not Americans. We are not patients. We are not sick people. Your life and mine are losses.

This system is beyond redemption and beyond repair.

Go read the whole thing.

Maine rejects Real ID

Maine overwhelmingly rejected federal requirements for national identification cards on Thursday, marking the first formal state opposition to controversial legislation scheduled to go in effect for Americans next year.

Both chambers of the Maine legislature approved a resolution saying the state flatly “refuses” to force its citizens to use driver’s licenses that comply with digital ID standards, which were established under the 2005 Real ID Act. It asks the U.S. Congress to repeal the law.

“Real ID” was a very stupid idea and terribly for privacy, with no real gain except in the size of the beaurocracy. Go Maine!