From the Detroit News: Supreme Court jolts snoozing tea party

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120701/OPINION03/207010309/1008/OPINION01/Court-jolts-snoozing-tea-party

July 1, 2012 at 3:17 pm

Court jolts snoozing tea party

• Nolan Finley

"Even though Romney's hands aren't entirely clean on the issue, he's the only candidate saying he'll repeal Obamacare. That makes him a lot prettier to those who detest the law, and that's a sizeable group."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120701/OPINION03/207010309#ixzz1zV9gjzM1

From Columbia U: Diabetes Control Among Hispanics in the ACCORD Trial

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22744725

J Gen Intern Med. 2012 Jun 29. [Epub ahead of print]

Diabetes Control Among Hispanics in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes Trial.

Getaneh A, Light LS, Brillon DJ, Calles Escandón J, Felicetta J, Evans GW, Lopez-Jimenez CR, Cuddihy R, Bigger JT.

Source

Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY, USA, ag665@columbia.edu.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Hispanics in the United States represent diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, and manifest heterogeneous cardiovascular risks including diabetes. It is not known if there are residual differences in the control of diabetes among Hispanic groups given uniform access to diabetes care.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate glucose control differences among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans receiving substantial diabetes care and support in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial.

DESIGN:

Secondary analysis of data from a randomized trial comparing two treatment strategies: intensive, targeting glycated hemoglobin below 6.0 %, and standard, targeting glycated hemoglobin between 7.0 % and 7.9 %.

PARTICIPANTS:

Seven hundred and sixteen Hispanic and 6066 non-Hispanic white participants were recruited from 77 clinical sites across the United States and Canada. There were 243 Mexicans, 199 Puerto Ricans, and 150 Dominicans; and 135 of these Hispanic groups were born in the United States.

MAIN MEASURE:

Glycated hemoglobin

RESULTS:

Compared to Puerto Ricans, Mexicans were more likely (HR = 1.38, CI:0.90-2.10) and Dominicans as likely (HR = 1.01, CI:0.66-1.54) to achieve glycated hemoglobin goal in the intensive arm. Participants born in the United States achieved glycated hemoglobin goal at a higher rate than those born elsewhere (HR = 1.57, CI:0.99-2.51 in the intensive arm, HR = 1.51, CI:0.95-2.43 in the standard arm). These differences were not statistically significant. In the intensive arm, Puerto Ricans (OR = 0.47, CI:0.31-0.71), and Dominicans (OR = 0.41, CI:0.26-0.66) were less likely than non-Hispanic whites to achieve glycated hemoglobin goal, whereas the difference between non-Hispanic whites and Mexicans was not statistically significant, (OR = 0.66, CI:0.43-1.02).

CONCLUSIONS:

Hispanic groups, given access to comprehensive diabetes care, differed from each other non-significantly and had a variable divergence from non-Hispanic whites in achieving intensive glycated hemoglobin goal. These differences, if confirmed, could be due to such factors as variable acculturation and functional health literacy levels that were not measured in the ACCORD trial, but should be further explored in future studies.

The LA Times is reshuffling the deck chairs

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/28/local/la-me-cap-budget-20120628

Overspending isn't California's problem

Face it: More budget cuts won't pay for everything the state needs.

June 28, 2012|George Skelton | Capitol Journal

"Legislators and governors have been whacking away.

Compared with the economic peak of budget year 2007-08, current general fund spending is down 16%. True, the Legislature shuffled off some of the general fund burden to other funds. Even so, total state spending is down 2%."

(HT:SD)

Grover Norquist: Supreme Court's healthcare ruling "a distinction without a difference.”

http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/norquist-miers-supreme-court/2012/07/02/id/444165

Norquist: Roberts Makes Me ‘Miss Harriet Miers’

Monday, 02 Jul 2012 09:43 AM

By Newsmax Wires

“Before: we can force you to do what we want because the ‘commerce clause’ gives us that power,” Norquist writes. “Now, the government can threaten you with a tax large enough to bludgeon you to do what it wants you to do. This appears to be a distinction without a difference.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Norquist: Roberts Makes Me ‘Miss Harriet Miers’

John Yoo: Obamacare ruling "exactly the big-government disaster it appears to be" (HT:SD)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303561504577496520011395292.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

John Yoo: Chief Justice Roberts and His Apologists

Some conservatives see a silver lining in the ObamaCare ruling. But it's exactly the big-government disaster it appears to be.

"Worse still, Justice Roberts's opinion provides a constitutional road map for architects of the next great expansion of the welfare state. Congress may not be able to directly force us to buy electric cars, eat organic kale, or replace oil heaters with solar panels. But if it enforces the mandates with a financial penalty then suddenly, thanks to Justice Roberts's tortured reasoning in Sebelius, the mandate is transformed into a constitutional exercise of Congress's power to tax."

From the American Spectator: Supreme Beings

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/02/supreme-beings

Supreme Beings

By W. JAMES ANTLE, III on 7.2.12 @ 6:10AM

A Constitution, if we can keep it from being just whatever the judges say it is.

"In short, if the Constitution has no meaning apart from what the judges say it means, we have no written Constitution.
Not even the highest court in the land was ever intended to be the sole arbiter of the Constitution, nor the people's only remedy for federal disobedience."

From Time: John Roberts, Conservative Outcast, and the Supreme Court’s Unprecedented Leak

http://swampland.time.com/2012/07/02/john-roberts-conservative-outcast-and-the-supreme-courts-unprecedented-leak/

John Roberts, Conservative Outcast, and the Supreme Court’s Unprecedented Leak

By ADAM SORENSEN | @adamsorensen | July 2, 2012

"That’s a lonely position, though. Conservatives are furious. Roberts’ fellow conservative jurists didn’t mention him by name in their dissent because “they no longer wished to engage in debate with him.” One Justice, according to CBS, said the right wing of the court effectively told Roberts, “You’re on your own.” They washed their hands of the ruling. Clearly, that’s something they want the world to know about."

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2012/07/02/john-roberts-conservative-outcast-and-the-supreme-courts-unprecedented-leak/#ixzz1zUA0cdMj

From Yale U: Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein: An Update

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22745236

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Jun 28. [Epub ahead of print]

Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein: An Update.

Wysolmerski JJ.

Source

Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8020.

Abstract

PTHrP was identified as a cause of hypercalcemia in cancer patients 25 yr ago. In the intervening years, we have learned that PTHrP and PTH are encoded by related genes that are part of a larger "PTH gene family." This evolutionary relationship permits them to bind to the same type 1 PTH/PTHrP receptor, which explains why humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy resembles hyperparathyroidism. This review will outline basic facts about PTHrP biology and its normal physiological functions, with an emphasis on new findings of the past 5-10 yr. The medical and research communities first became aware of PTHrP because of its involvement in a common paraneoplastic syndrome. Now, research into the basic biology of PTHrP has suggested previously unrecognized connections to a variety of disease states such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and breast cancer and has highlighted how PTHrP itself might be used in therapy for osteoporosis and diabetes. Therefore, the story of this remarkable protein is a paradigm for translational research, having gone from bedside to bench and now back to bedside.

From The National Interest: The Critique of Pure Kagan

http://nationalinterest.org/bookreview/the-critique-pure-kagan-7061?page=show

The Critique of Pure Kagan

REVIEW

From the 

JULY-AUG 2012

 issue

Christopher A. Preble 

| 

June 28, 2012

"Kagan’s latest offering, The World America Made, is a cri de coeur directed at a foreign-policy establishment beset by doubts and a wider public harboring even deeper ones. In both tone and substance, the book is aimed at soothing American anxieties over the nation’s fiscal and geopolitical future. In some respects, his diagnosis is sound—the scope of American decline is often exaggerated and not to be celebrated. But in several critical respects, Kagan’s prescriptions for the present and future of U.S. foreign policy are shortsighted at best, harmful at worst."

From Johns Hopkins: Legal status and source of offenders' firearms in states with the least stringent criteria for gun ownership

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22729164

Inj Prev. 2012 Jun 23. [Epub ahead of print]

Legal status and source of offenders' firearms in states with the least stringent criteria for gunownership.

Vittes KA, Vernick JS, Webster DW.

Source

Center for Gun Policy and Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Abstract

Background

Gun possession by high-risk individuals presents a serious threat to public safety. U.S. federal law establishes minimum criteria for legal purchase and possession of firearms; many states have laws disqualifying additional categories for illegal possession.

Methods

We used data from a national survey of state prison inmates to calculate: 1) the proportion of offenders, incarcerated for crimes committed with firearms in 13 states with the least restrictive firearm purchase and possession laws, who would have been prohibited if their states had stricter gun laws; and 2) the source of gun acquisition for offenders who were and were not legally permitted to purchase and possess firearms.

Results

Nearly three of ten gun offenders (73 of 253 or 28.9%) were legal gun possessors but would have been prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms when committing their most recent offense if their states had stricter prohibitions. Offenders who were already prohibited under current law acquired their gun from a licensed dealer, where a background check is required, five times less often than offenders who were not prohibited (3.9% vs. 19.9%; χ(2)=13.31; p≤0.001). Nearly all (96.1%) offenders who were legally prohibited, acquired their gun from a supplier not required to conduct a background check.

Conclusions

Stricter gun ownership laws would have made firearm possession illegal for many state prison inmates who used a gun to commit a crime. Requiring all gun sales to be subject to a background check would make it more difficult for these offenders to obtain guns.

PMID:

 

22729164

 

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Zombie allusions: They just keep on coming

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/160883195.html?source=error

Just in case: Plan for a zombie attack

• Article by: NOELLE BUHIDAR , McClatchy News Service 
• Updated: July 2, 2012 - 8:07 AM

A tongue-in-cheek guide to protecting yourself.

"If you aren't familiar with Max Brooks' "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead" ($10.98), buy it at Barnes & Noble ASAP. The book covers everything from zombie physiology and defense tactics to how to prepare your home for a siege.

Another must-read is Roger Ma's "The Zombie Combat Manual: A Guide to Fighting the Living Dead" ($13.98). It'll coach you on how to emerge victorious from a close hand-to-hand battle with a living corpse."

Zombie allusions: They just keep on coming

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120702/SCHOOLS/207020322/Students-survive-zombie-apocalypse-?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs

July 2, 2012 at 1:00 am

Students survive 'zombie apocalypse'

MSU Web class tests problem solving with hypothetical disaster

• By Associated Press

"Called "Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse — Catastrophes and Human Behavior," the online class encouraged students to consider how human behavior and nature change after catastrophes, both historical and hypothetical.

In this case, the hypothetical was a zombie apocalypse.
On the surface, it may not sound like the most rigorously academic class ever offered."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120702/SCHOOLS/207020322#ixzz1zTZAyBR9

Need another reason to work out? OBESITY IMPAIRS EFFICIENCY OF DENDRITIC CELL ANTITUMOR IMMUNOTHERAPIES

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22745381

J Immunol. 2012 Jun 27. [Epub ahead of print]

Diet-Induced Obesity Alters Dendritic Cell Function in the Presence and Absence of Tumor Growth.

James BR, Tomanek-Chalkley A, Askeland EJ, Kucaba T, Griffith TS, Norian LA.

Source

Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455;

Abstract

Obesity is a mounting health concern in the United States and is associated with an increased risk for developing several cancers, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Despite this, little is known regarding the impact of obesity on antitumor immunity. Because dendritic cells (DC) are critical regulators of antitumor immunity, we examined the combined effects of obesity and tumor outgrowth on DC function. Using a diet-induced obesity(DIO) model, DC function was evaluated in mice bearing orthotopic RCC and in tumor-free controls. Tumor-free DIO mice had profoundly altered serum cytokine and chemokine profiles, with upregulation of 15 proteins, including IL-1α, IL-17, and LIF. Tumor-free DIO mice had elevated percentages of conventional splenic DC that were impaired in their ability to stimulate naive T cell expansion, although they were phenotypically similar to normal weight (NW) controls. In DIO mice, intrarenal RCC tumor challenge in the absence of therapy led to increased local infiltration by T cell-suppressive DC and accelerated early tumor outgrowth. Following administration of a DC-dependent immunotherapy, established RCC tumors regressed in normal weight mice. The same immunotherapy was ineffective in DIO mice and was characterized by an accumulation of regulatory DC in tumor-bearing kidneys, decreased local infiltration by IFN-γ-producing CD8 T cells, and progressive tumor outgrowth. Our results suggest that the presence of obesity as a comorbidity can impair the efficacy of DC-dependent antitumor immunotherapies.

From U Toronto: Tipping the scales: A lawyer joins the health care team

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22654543

Paediatr Child Health. 2011 Jun;16(6):336.

Tipping the scales: A lawyer joins the health care team.

Pai N, Miller W, Chapman L, Ford-Jones E, McNeill T, Jackson S.

Source

Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto;

CONCLUSION

Utilization data from the 12-month pilot program suggest that a significant population of low-income families seek legal counsel regarding issues directly or indirectly affecting their child’s health, and that the majority of issues can be addressed through an onsite legal specialist. A hospital-based partnership with a qualified triage lawyer and access to specialized volunteer lawyers – at no cost to the family – can assist families with complex social issues. Although additional work is required to evaluate patient outcomes resulting from PBLO at SickKids, the program has been recognized as a valuable service at The Hospital for Sick Children.

From U Melbourne: Signs of progress in the Australian post-2000 COPD experience, but some old problems remain

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22745535

Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2012;7:357-66. Epub 2012 Jun 7.

Signs of progress in the Australian post-2000 COPD experience, but some old problems remain.

Dunt D, Doyle C.

Source

Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics, Melbourne School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

This study aims to describe current trends in Australia regarding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality and morbidity rates, and in its treatment and prevention from 2000 to 2010. The study's purpose is to better define future directions in curbing COPD. People with COPD and their caregivers who attend patient support groups (n = 21), pulmonary rehabilitation group coordinators (n = 27) within Victoria, and the AustralianLung Foundation provided informed feedback. COPD was a leading underlying cause of death in both sexes during these years. Nevertheless, mortality rates declined from 1980 to 2007, with rates for males almost halving. Its prevalence has also substantially declined. Smoking rates have declined in age groups over 40 years old in both sexes. The COPD-X Plan provides evidence-based guidelines for the management of COPD. Many government, professional, and community initiatives have been recently implemented to promote the Plan. Two studies-one conducted before and one conducted after the publication of the COPD-X Plan-report some progress, but there are still very considerable departures from evidence-based practice. The Australian Lung Foundation estimates that only 1% of patients who could benefit from pulmonary rehabilitation programs have suitable access to such programs. A common priority for all informants was that there needed to be greater awareness of-and a more positive orientation to-COPD in both the Australian and health professional communities. The study concluded that substantial reductions in COPD and smoking cessation rates contrast with more limited progress toward adopting other aspects of evidence-based practice. The "good news" story concerning reductions in COPD disease with improving smoking cessation rates could form the basis for suitable media campaigns.

From U Paris: Shrunken head (tsantsa): A complete forensic analysis procedure for global repatriation of human artifacts to native communities

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22742740

Forensic Sci Int. 2012 Jun 26. [Epub ahead of print]

Shrunken head (tsantsa): A complete forensic analysis procedure.

Charlier P, Huynh-Charlier I, Brun L, Hervé C, de la Grandmaison GL.

Source

Department of Forensic Pathology and Medicine, University Hospital R. Poincaré (AP-HP, UVSQ), 92380 Garches, France; Department of Medical Ethics, University of Paris 5, 45 Saints-Pères street, 75006 Paris, France.

Abstract

Based on the analysis of shrunken heads referred to our forensic laboratory for anthropological expertise, and data from both anthropological and medical literature, we propose a complete forensic procedure for the analysis of such pieces. A list of 14 original morphological criteria has been developed, based on the global aspect, color, physical deformation, anatomical details, and eventual associated material (wood, vegetal fibers, sand, charcoals, etc.). Such criteria have been tested on a control sample of 20 tsantsa (i.e. shrunken heads from the Jivaro or Shuar tribes of South America). Further complementary analyses are described such as CT-scan and microscopic examination. Such expertise is more and more asked to forensic anthropologists and practitioners in a context of global repatriation of human artifacts to native communities.

From U Queensland-Australia: The effects of pole walking on health in adults

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22734947

Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2012 Jun 27. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2012.01495.x. [Epub ahead of print]

The effects of pole walking on health in adults: A systematic review.

Fritschi JO, Brown WJ, Laukkanen R, van Uffelen JG.

Source

School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Abstract

The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the effects of pole walking (PW) programs on physical and psychosocial health. Randomized controlled and controlled trials were identified from literature searches in PubMed, Cochrane library, EMBASE, SPORTdiscuss, CINAHL and PEDRO. A total of 14 articles from 13 studies met the inclusion criteria. Eleven of the included studies had a quality score of 50% or higher. Most studies included mid to older aged men and women in clinical populations with various medical conditions. Only two studies included nonclinical populations. The majority of the PW programs consisted of supervised group sessions performed two to three times weekly for 8 weeks or longer. Most studies investigated the effects of PW on both physical and psychosocial health and the majority examined effects on four to five outcomes. The effects of PW on cardiorespiratory fitness were most extensively studied. The most frequently examined psychosocial measure was quality of life. All studies reported at least one beneficial effect of PW compared with the control group. The results of this systematic review indicate that PW programs have some beneficial effects on both physical and psychosocial health in adults with and without clinical conditions.

MAIS OUI! Its for public tv and radio...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/01/france-tv-licence-computer-screens

France may extend TV licence fee to computer screens

Culture minister says government is considering making those who own a computer screen but no television pay up

"The licence fee – €125 in mainland France and €80 in its overseas territories – is used to finance public television and radio."

SHEESH: From CBS News: Roberts switched votes, unresponsive to Kennedy's efforts

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57464549/roberts-switched-views-to-uphold-health-care-law/

July 1, 2012 1:29 PM

 

Roberts switched views to uphold health care law

"Roberts then withstood a month-long, desperate campaign to bring him back to his original position, the sources said. Ironically, Justice Anthony Kennedy - believed by many conservatives to be the justice most likely to defect and vote for the law - led the effort to try to bring Roberts back to the fold.

"He was relentless," one source said of Kennedy's efforts. "He was very engaged in this."

But this time, Roberts held firm. And so the conservatives handed him their own message which, as one justice put it, essentially translated into, "You're on your own."

The conservatives refused to join any aspect of his opinion, including sections with which they agreed, such as his analysis imposing limits on Congress' power under the Commerce Clause, the sources said.

Instead, the four joined forces and crafted a highly unusual, unsigned joint dissent. They deliberately ignored Roberts' decision, the sources said, as if they were no longer even willing to engage with him in debate."

"The fact that the joint dissent doesn't mention Roberts' majority was not a sign of sloppiness, the sources said, but instead was a signal the conservatives no longer wished to engage in debate with him."

From CNN: More hot water for Penn State?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/30/justice/penn-state-emails/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Disturbing e-mails could spell more trouble for Penn State officials

By Susan Candiotti, CNN

updated 12:33 AM EDT, Sun July 1, 2012

"In an exchange of messages from February 26 to February 28, 2001, Spanier allegedly acknowledges Penn State could be "vulnerable" for not reporting the incident, according to two sources with knowledge of the case.

"The only downside for us is if the message (to Sandusky) isn't 'heard' and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it," Spanier purportedly writes."

From Boston U: Aliens behaving badly: Children's acquisition of novel purity-based morals

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22743053

Cognition. 2012 Jun 26. [Epub ahead of print]

Aliens behaving badly: Children's acquisition of novel purity-based morals.

Rottman J, Kelemen D.

Source

Department of Psychology, Boston University, 64 Cummington St., Boston, MA 02215, United States.

Abstract

The traditional cognitive developmental perspective on moral acquisition posits that children actively construct moral beliefs by assessing the negative impacts of antisocial behaviors. This account is not easily applied to actions that are considered immoral despite lacking consequences for others' welfare. We studied the moralization of behaviors without tangible impacts, specifically examining the independent and joint roles of feelings and norms in children's acquisition of purity-based morals. Seven-year-olds were shown pictures of anthropomorphic aliens engaged in unfamiliar activities and were asked to judge whether these actions were wrong or OK. Relative to a control condition matched for valence and informational complexity, children made elevated wrongness judgments when they were either disgusted or led to believe that the behaviors were unnatural. However, it was only in a condition that included both disgust induction and information about unnaturalness that children exhibited robust tendencies to judge the actions as wrong. This research therefore demonstrates that feelings and norms work in concert such that purity morals are most readily acquired when both factors are involved. The implications for accounts of moral development are discussed.

By John Sutherland: Raiders of the lost archives: "Modern techniques make one feel like Jabba the Hutt"

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=420366&c=1

Raiders of the lost archives

by John Sutherland

28 June 2012

"In the age of digitisation, the 'search' part of research has become a virtual experience. Although progress has many advantages, John Sutherland laments the end of the scholar-adventurer and the thrill of discovery amid dusty, uncatalogued manuscripts"

[Sarah] "Churchwell is the scholarly equivalent of an electric storm. Ten minutes with her is a Christopher Walken hair-job."

"Where's the drama in "calling up" things, never having to move a yard from the keyboard? There was something genuinely exciting - the thrill of the hunt. Modern techniques make one feel like Jabba the Hutt. Let the fingers do the research."

From Alain Borczuk: Diagnostic Patient Care, Not Just Diagnosis: "they don't pay us just for the easy cases"

ttp://dx.doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2012-0059-ED

SPECIAL SECTION–NONNEOPLASTIC DISEASE PATHOLOGY

Diagnostic Patient Care, Not Just Diagnosis

Alain C. Borczuk, MD

"When confronted with a difficult case, one of my mentors in pathology, Boyce Bennett, MD, would tell the residents that “they don't pay us just for the easy cases.” Our greatest challenge in delivering diagnostic patient care is providing the best clinical answer when a definite histopathologic diagnosis is not possible. While opinions may differ over such cases, the “right” answer must stand the true test—directed confirmation when possible, and ultimately treatment response to appropriate therapy. While some call this the “art” of pathology, it is a complex exercise of deductive reasoning in which our training and experience help us earn our keep."

Veronique de Rugy: The Government We Deserve: Health-Care Edition

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/304467/government-we-deserve-health-care-edition-veronique-de-rugy

The Government We Deserve: Health-Care Edition By Veronique de Rugy June 29, 2012 4:30 P.M. "Now, one thing is sure, this ruling didn’t shrink the size of the federal government. It is also unlikely to increase our freedom today or tomorrow. But I will say this: With or without this Supreme Court decision, we are and we will remain in terrible financial shape. We are in this mess today because for years now free marketeers and conservatives in Congress, along with the pundits and the policy people who support them, have agreed to significant compromises of their principles, often in the name of practicality or the claim that the other party’s proposal would have been worse (think about the Republicans’ argument for Medicare Part D). These compromises have produced the government we have today: It is big and it will get bigger; it is overreaching; it is inefficient (including the Department of Defense); it is wasteful; it corrupts the private sector and gets corrupted in return; and it doesn’t effectively help Americans, especially the poor."

From the New Yorker: The Golden Rule: A New Way to Defeat Nigerian E-mail Scams (HT:JJ)

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/06/nigerian-e-mail-scams-microsoft-research-study.html


June 22, 2012

The Golden Rule: A New Way to Defeat Nigerian E-mail Scams

Posted by Nicholas Thompson

"The real conclusion of the report is that wasting an
attacker’s time is a good way to discourage future attacks."

From Becker-Posner blog: The Health Care Mandate

From Becker-Posner blog: The Health Care Mandate


Becker:

http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/2012/07/the-health-care-mandate-if-it-seems-like-a-tax-it-is-a-tax-becker.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

07/01/2012

The Health Care Mandate: If it seems Like a Tax it is a Tax-Becker

"In the past I supported a health care mandate that would require everyone to have minimal insurance against catastrophic health events, such as cancers, that are very expensive to treat. Catastrophic insurance alone is pretty cheap since they are rare for younger persons, the main ones not covered either by private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. Since the great majority of individuals and families could afford to pay for such catastrophic coverage, only the real poor need have this coverage subsidized by the federal government."

Posner:

http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/2012/07/is-the-health-care-laws-mandate-really-a-taxposner-.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

07/01/2012

Is the Health Care Law’s “Mandate” Really a Tax?—Posner

"I agree with Becker (and with the Supreme Court) that the “mandate” in the health care law—the requirement that people who can afford to buy health insurance must do so on pain of having to pay a “penalty” if they do not—is within Congress’s taxing power under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, the article establishing the legislative branch of the federal government. Article I among other things authorizes Congress "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises." The fact that Congress called the mandate exaction a penalty rather than a tax is of no significance. It was done simply because “tax” has become a dirty word in American political discourse. "