I was planning to make this argument, but Fukuyama says it better than I would have: Thirdly, a Russian military failure—meaning at minimum the liberation of territories conquered after 24 February 2022—will have enormous political reverberations around the world. Russia and China prior to the war argued that liberal democracies, particularly the United States, were in decline. They argued that their authoritarian systems were better at...
Read More »More disinformation about COVID policy in New Zealand
I have a piece up at Science Based Medicine responding to criticism of New Zealand’s zero COVID policy by Jay Bhattacharya, an author of the Great Barrington Declaration and an uncompromising critic of COVID restrictions. Here’s the intro: Bhattacharya’s most compelling argument is that the zero COVID policy led to an increase in non-COVID mortality that substantially offset the COVID deaths the policy averted. If this were true, it would indeed...
Read More »Why is the Signify Health Acquisition Such A Big Deal?
“CVS beats out Amazon for Signify Health” (axios.com), Sarah Pringle Why does was CVS battling Amazon for a rinky-dink company like this matter? Hmmm, think back to “Value-Based Payment. It is the New For-Profit Health Care Industry” and all of the healthcare providers being acquired by insurers. There is also an involuntary push going on by CMS moving people out of traditional Medicare to these plans. Traditional Medicare has price control and...
Read More »Combating Nativism and Making America Stronger
Combat Nativism and Make America the Most Welcoming Country in the World Some findings from the Roosevelt Institute: “New report: Combat Nativism and Make America the Most Welcoming Country in the World” – Roosevelt Institute In 2020, natural disasters forced more than 30 million people to migrate across the globe. by 2050, climate change impacts could bring this number up to 216 million.Mass migration is happening against the global backdrop...
Read More »ARP Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Expansion
I believe it was 2019 when I was asked to write on women’s healthcare issues. I was not asked because I was an expert. They were asking me because they wanted a male’s perspective on women’s healthcare issues. In particular, the topic was maternal healthcare and mortality. “A Woman’s Right to Safe Healthcare Outcomes” – Angry Bear (angrybearblog.com) My wife and I were fortunate to have three healthy children born to us. We did lose one birth...
Read More »Total Hypocrisy, Franken Pushed Back on GOP
I listened to this and it angers me. First, we hear from Justice Roberts about barricades around SCOTUS after Roe v Wade. Not one word about the barricades being erected after the January 6 riots at the Capitol. Erected due to violent protest causing injury, death, and destruction at the Capitol. The next stop after the Capitol was supposed to be SCOTUS on January 6. “Barricades surrounding Capitol in wake of the Jan. 6 riot now coming down” –...
Read More »The Party’s Over
The latest PBS Frontline, Lies, Politics and Democracy; says it all. The Republican Party is rotten from top to bottom. Happened in that order. Beginning with Nixon, consummated by Reagan, they made a pact with the devil. Of the Party’s some 250 currently elected members in Congress, only the fewest of the few (< 5 %) had the decency to do the right thing. All the others are craven cowards. Sold out. The Party’s ruins are a slime from which...
Read More »Michigan’s Abortion Initiative Going on the November Ballot
Last week the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a tied Michigan Board of State Canvassers inability to approve an abortion rights initiative placement on the November ballot. MSC directed the Michigan Board of State Canvassers to place the abortion initiative on the ballot. The issue over the tie was the amendment’s spacing and formatting potentially causing confusion amongst voters. Republicans were given an excuse rejecting the initiative....
Read More »Russia is truly f*cked
I’m not talking about the current military situation or the ongoing destruction of the Russian armed forces; to be clear I hope Russia suffers a crushing defeat at the hands of the Ukrainians. I’m referring to the damage that the Ukraine war is doing to Russian society. This damage is immeasurable: extreme levels of political repression, the mass emigration of talented young people, loss of trade and direct foreign investment, the list goes on and...
Read More »Will The Iran Nuclear Deal Ever Get Reestablished?
“Will The Iran Nuclear Deal Ever Get Reestablished?,” Econospeak It (Iran Nuclear Deal) keeps looking like it might, but then no obstacles have appeared yet. President Biden promised to undo what I have long argued was the worst foreign policy mistake made by Donald Trump. He should have just done it right after he took office, but he made a bunch of extra demands and the negotiations went nowhere. Then the moderate Rouhani government was...
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