Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Today Only! IPLawGuy Answers Your Questions!
One of the most intriguing people here on the Razor, and occasional guest-host, is our own IPLawGuy (shown above in a discussion with me about important law enforcement issues). I've received some inquiries lately about IPLawGuy, so I thought today I would open the comment section to questions directed at him. I haven't asked him about this, but I'm pretty sure it will be ok. Maybe not. It's worth a try.
Here are some of his areas of expertise:
-- Trademarks and trade names
-- Either the Washington Nationals or the Seattle Mariners (I always get those two mixed up)
-- Obscure bands from 1974-1992.
-- The zither and the lute (he plays both).
-- The nation of Canada.
-- Czech native costumes.
-- American movies about college, 1977-1979.
-- Copyright issues.
Let's see what happens!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Oh! I have no idea what that says...
So, the piece came out on Al-Jazeera that I mentioned a few days ago. Apparently, this is what I said (or at least what appears next to my picture):
عدم إلمام بالقوانين
بدورها أبدت مارغوري كوهن أستاذة القانون في جامعة توماس جيفرسون عدم اندهاشها للحكم في ضوء حقيقة عدم وجود أميركيين من أصل أفريقي في هيئة المحلفين ومنع القاضي الاستماع إلى السياق العنصري للحادثة أثناء المحاكمة.
بدورها أبدت مارغوري كوهن أستاذة القانون في جامعة توماس جيفرسون عدم اندهاشها للحكم في ضوء حقيقة عدم وجود أميركيين من أصل أفريقي في هيئة المحلفين ومنع القاضي الاستماع إلى السياق العنصري للحادثة أثناء المحاكمة.
وأشارت كوهن إلى أن هيئة المحلفين لم يكن لديها إلمام بالقوانين وإلا لوجدت أن زيمرمان استفز مارتن أولا وبالتالي فلا ينطبق عليه قانون الدفاع عن النفس.
وأوضحت أن من ضمن المخالفات التي رافقت المحاكمة شهادة رئيس لجنة التحقيق الذي قال إنه يعتقد أن رواية المتهم زيمرمان عن وقائع الحادثة صحيحة مع أنه لا يحق للشهود أن يبدوا تأييدهم لأي رواية.
ولفتت إلى أن اعتراف إحدى أعضاء هيئة المحلفين مؤخرا بأنها كانت تشعر بأن زيمرمان مذنب يوضح أنها لم تكن ملمة بقوانين هيئة المحلفين في قضايا القتل غير العمد.
وخلصت كوهن إلى إن الانحياز العنصري كان حاضرا ضد ترايفون في كل مراحل المحاكمة بدءا من الدعوى الجنائية مرورا بتحقيقات الشرطة وقرار الاتهام وانتهاء بصدور الحكم.
Now, you can all have fun making up things that I apparently said... sounds like a contest!
Monday, July 29, 2013
Geoffrey! Sally!
How did I know you guys would be the ones to bring the first-ever Razor Anthony Weiner joke?
We heard about some fascinating cats last Friday: Lollipop, Taffy Anne, whatever cat it is that made the Spanish Medievalist hate cats. Actually, that was probably Pickles the Cat, as reflected below.
In the end it was hard to ignore, though, the wonderful story that Rebecca K. told:
One farm-living fact --
Creatures were always dying.
Kitties broke my heart.
In cold weather they
Crawled under still warm trucks or
Tractors; sat near tires.
Too young to know best,
They got crushed when busy men
Went without checking.
Toms might kill them, too.
Put mom-cats in heat again,
I later was told.
That day Dad killed the
Stray tom, with one true long shot,
I did no mourning.
We heard about some fascinating cats last Friday: Lollipop, Taffy Anne, whatever cat it is that made the Spanish Medievalist hate cats. Actually, that was probably Pickles the Cat, as reflected below.
In the end it was hard to ignore, though, the wonderful story that Rebecca K. told:
One farm-living fact --
Creatures were always dying.
Kitties broke my heart.
In cold weather they
Crawled under still warm trucks or
Tractors; sat near tires.
Too young to know best,
They got crushed when busy men
Went without checking.
Toms might kill them, too.
Put mom-cats in heat again,
I later was told.
That day Dad killed the
Stray tom, with one true long shot,
I did no mourning.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday Reflection: Slip and Fall
My vote for the funniest book of the year has to go to Stick Man's Really Bad Day by Scott Mockus. It shows the sad adventures of stick man (pictured above falling down some stairs) as he is electrocuted, hit by falling rocks, tips over a forklift, and gets hit by cars, among other misadventures. It's all there in the pictures.
We are all Stick Man, aren't we? I still don't know what to do when there is a sign that says "watch for falling rocks," since (like Stick Man) I probably won't see the rocks until there is nothing I can do about it, and they are cascading onto my head. It's more a prediction than a warning. "That's what you will be doing when the rocks start to fall, dummy" is what the sign should really say.
Personally, I have a real affinity for Stick Man, in part because the same month that my family moved to a new house when I was six, the town put up a "Slow Children" sign at the end of the block that showed Stick Man and his slow child (who I assumed was me) as they slowly and awkwardly crossed the street in front of traffic.
As the Slow Children sign predicted, I have pretty much grown up to be Stick Man, blundering from one near-death experience to another. Each time, too, the source is the same: A lack of focus. You look at your phone for one second, just to see if that guy texted back about your bike getting fixed, and BOOM, over goes the forklift. I'm walking along, and suddenly I am thinking about sentencing in Finland, and idly reach out to touch the fence nearby and it never even occurs to me to check to see if it is an electric fence and there you go... a lot of volts. Problems (real ones) arise when I lack focus, if just for a minute.
When I read the Gospels, I'm shocked by Jesus's focus. He is on all the time-- people are constantly watching him, expecting answers and healing and various miracles. He is not distracted, either, not once.
It wears him down, though. He retreats by himself, or with a few key friends. He respects the Sabbath, and gives things a rest. Perhaps that is part of his wisdom too, and a part we (or at least I) too rarely honor. Probably we should, for the sake of ourselves and our forklifts.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Because it is Saturday...
Yesterday I did my first interview with Al-Jazeera (the Arab-language version, not US, so suppose translation will be required). They intrigue me... I think it is an important voice to have in the media landscape, especially as democracy spreads in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, thank in part to Razorite Jessica Stafford (who keeps sending it to me), I can't get this out of my head:
Meanwhile, thank in part to Razorite Jessica Stafford (who keeps sending it to me), I can't get this out of my head:
Friday, July 26, 2013
Haiku Friday: Cats
There is something about summer that makes me think about cats. When I was a kid, our cat (Chuck) used to loll about on the kitchen floor all day, then languidly go outside to watch squirrels. I think being covered with fur in a house with no air conditioning was perhaps less than ideal.
Love 'em or hate 'em, let's make us some cat haikus!
Here is mine:
Aurora the Cat
Runaway or Stolen Cat?
Cat lady took her.
Now you go... and don't worry if your haiku is about a long-lost cat, or Pickles the Cat, or a fear of cats, or... whatever. We're easy here at the Razor.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Political Mayhem Thursday: Detroit in Bankruptcy
Yesterday, I linked to the podcast of my interview a few days ago with Minnesota Public Radio. When I went to that page yesterday, there was a feature on the right side called "Op-Ed of the Day." With a start, I noticed that the Op-Ed of the day was by my childhood (and adulthood) friend Ron Fournier. Back then, we worked on the high school paper together and ran cross-country. 35 years later, there were our names together on a page from a far-away place. I think that's pretty cool.
Ron's piece, from the National Journal, deserved the accolade and more. You can (and should) read the whole thing here. He begins by describing his connection to the city of Detroit:
My ancestors helped build Detroit. The Fourniers were fur-trappers and farmers living hard by the Detroit River until the fledgling auto industry beckoned in the early 1900s with a better deal: $5 a day and a pension.
In the 1960s, my father opted out of the family business to be a police officer. He served Detroit for 25 years as part of the elite motorcycle unit that doubled as the riot squad. One of my earlier memories is of my parents, dressed in church clothes, leaving our house to attend the 1967 funeral of a riot cop.
Mom and dad raised four children at 15285 Coram in the city's northeast corner, the same block upon which they were raised. All this to say: I love my hometown. And I hate what Detroit's demise might bode for our country.
The heart of the piece is a warning: That the nation as whole faces the same issues that brought down Detroit.
Of his many good points, I found his warning regarding the economy most interesting:
Economy: Detroit failed to adapt to the global economy and to diversify for the postindustrial era. "Sometimes the losers from economic change are individuals whose skills have become redundant; sometimes they're companies, serving a market niche that no longer exists; and sometimes they're whole cities that lose their place in the economic ecosystem," wrote economic columnist Paul Krugman in today's New York Times. Sometimes, the victims are whole countries, a fact that seems lost on Washington, where the leadership is polarized and smart ideas go to die.
Is Ron right?
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Yesterday on MPR
Above is the podcast for yesterday's interview on Minnesota Public radio. It was my third time on the Daily Circuit, and it is one of my favorite places to talk about important things. They give it enough time, ask good, challenging questions, and are always prepared.
That's not always true of other news outlets, and I really do appreciate the people who work hard to make a discussion worthwhile.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
The legacy of Trayvon Martin
The verdict aside, there is no doubt that a tragedy occurred. A boy was shot dead, and that's a tragedy, regardless of what else you think happened there or what should have happened in the trial. I wonder, now, what the impact of that tragedy will be on our nation.
Our recent history of making changes in the wake of tragedies is pretty thin. The only major public tragedies of the past 25 years I can think of that resulted in societal change are the Challenger disaster and 9/11. Neither of those changes, though, were very good. The Challenger disaster played a role in the end of our manned space program, and 9/11 led us to restrict our own civil liberties in the interest of security.
Tragedy is different than a mistake, though often a mistake can be identified as a source of the tragedy. We learn from mistakes (or at least hope to), but not so much from tragedies. Instead, we throw up our hands in sadness, argue, and then move on without deep reflection or meaningful shifts in policy.
Is this stasis in the face of tragedy a good or a bad thing?
Monday, July 22, 2013
Good, GOOD haiku, my friends...
But what is the deal with Geoffrey and Sally? They are a riot:
Geoffrey Mustang Boy said...
Mustang's Former Sally said...
Sal and I sat on
The green fringed couch in cellar
L'il bro crouched nearby.
Key coital moment
He ran screaming upstairs.Wow!
Naked Sal ran too.
It was the best of
Times;it was the worst
Of times.'Sixty-nine!
The green fringed couch in cellar
L'il bro crouched nearby.
Key coital moment
He ran screaming upstairs.Wow!
Naked Sal ran too.
It was the best of
Times;it was the worst
Of times.'Sixty-nine!
Mustang's Former Sally said...
Listen Osler--Geoff sucks!
Check out line eight,Dink!
Two syllables too short,which
Describes your parts well.
Check out line eight,Dink!
Two syllables too short,which
Describes your parts well.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Just up at MSNBC...
...is my new piece, The Speck in Florida's Eye, and the Log in the DOJ's.
Sunday Reflection: Looking for Light
The last few weeks, I find myself struggling a little to see the light of God in my world. When that happens, my thoughts are darker, my mood more subdued. For example, yesterday afternoon, I found myself pondering what crimes the residents of the 100-Acre-Wood might have committed. (That's what happens when criminal law professors feel down). Here is what I came up with:
Piglet: Pickpocket.
Owl: Insider Trading.
Eyeore: Assisted Suicide purveyor.
Rabbit: Racketeering.
Kanga: Child Abduction.
Pooh: Food Stamp Fraud.
Tigger: Meth.
See? That's not good. I'm seeing the worst in everything at the moment.
I suspect that what I really need is a period of time in a comfortable, familiar place to write. I lose sight of hope and faith when there is too much disruption going on, but part of that is a lack of focus. I too easily let bumps knock me off balance, and jump at unfamiliar sounds.
For the moment, though, thanks for your patience, and I hope that I did not make anyone think poorly of Kanga....
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Just up on HuffPo....
Writing about the Trayvon Martin case for Political Mayhem Thursday got me thinking, so I wrote this piece for the Huffington Post...
Friday, July 19, 2013
Haiku Friday: In the Basement/Attic
Until I moved to Texas, I loved basements, those repositories of the true souls of a family. There's such beauty in detritus, the things we can't bring ourselves to discard, but don't know quite what to do with.
Then, in Texas, no one had a basement. There, it was the attic that served this function.
So, pick your poison-- attic or basement. I think you know where I am going here. I will go first:
His best painting sits
Beneath some others, skates, wine,
Much lov'd silt of life.
Ok, now it is your turn-- it doesn't have to be about your basement, necessarily. Have fun! Make it more or less 5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables, and let it rip!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Political Mayhem Thursday: The Trayvon Martin verdict
Here is part of the coverage from the New York Times:
From the start, prosecutors faced a difficult task in proving second-degree murder. That charge required Mr. Zimmerman to have evinced a “depraved mind,” brimming with ill will, hatred, spite or evil intent, when he shot Mr. Martin.
Manslaughter, which under Florida law is typically added as a lesser charge if either side requests it, was a lower bar. Jurors needed to decide only that Mr. Zimmerman put himself in a situation that culminated in Mr. Martin’s death.
But because of Florida’s laws, prosecutors had to persuade jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Zimmerman did not act in self-defense. A shortage of evidence in the case made that a high hurdle, legal experts said.
Even after three weeks of testimony, the fight between Mr. Martin and Mr. Zimmerman on that rainy night was a muddle, fodder for reasonable doubt. It remained unclear who had started it, who screamed for help, who threw the first punch and at what point Mr. Zimmerman drew his gun. There were no witnesses to the shooting.
I'm a former prosecutor. I teach criminal law. In short, I have two conclusions. First, the Florida "stand your ground law," which does not require retreat from a dangerous situation and allows you to shoot someone you perceive as threatening rather than leave the situation, is terribly flawed. The facts of this event, where Zimmerman followed Martin before the shooting, illustrate the precise contours of that flaw.
Second, I'm not sure the verdict was wrong. There did not seem to be much evidence of what actually happened, and there were no surviving witnesses (other than Mr. Zimmerman) to the incident. "Beyond a reasonable doubt" is a high burden, and that burden may not have been reached.
What do you thing of this outcome, and what this case will mean in the future?
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Where did cable tv go so wrong?
When I was a kid, TV was free. It was a lucrative business, sure, supported by advertising. In Detroit we got about seven channels: Three major networks, PBS, the Canadian Broadcasting System, and Channels 20 & 50 (which were goofy local low-budget stations).
Now, TV is not free. Most people pay, and pay a lot, to get hundreds of channels on cable television. No one is forced to pay for cable, of course, and going without a television is a reasonable, but little-used, choice. Over-the-air television is harder to get in some places since the change-over to HD. The problem is that there is no reasonable in-between option, something between nothing and an expensive cable plan.
How did cable get so ridiculously expensive? Why don't we have a freer market which would provide good alternative in delivering television? In the end, will internet TV crush the cable oligopoly?
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Painkiller problems...
Clay Harris sent me a link to this great series in the Fayetteville, North Carolina paper about painkillers. It tells the story of the newest, worst drug in rural American.
What is challenging is that fighting it will take new tactics-- since the drug at issue is legal. What should we try?
What is challenging is that fighting it will take new tactics-- since the drug at issue is legal. What should we try?
Monday, July 15, 2013
Rebecca K!
How can you not like this haiku? It paints such a picture;
Mature women clerks
knowledgeable, delightful,
liked the selection
Of pattern and bolt --
Vogue design, delicate silk
in watery blues.
Wedding dress ... marriage
endure. Amluxen’s Fabrics ...
lost to 3rd World clothes.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Sunday Reflection: Utter Destruction
What struck me, too, was how much of the movie's plot traced youth-group theology, including the following tenets:
-- That one can be saved through faith at the last possible moment before death
-- That Satan is a real, corporeal being that interacts with the Earth and its people
-- That heaven is kind of wish-answering amusement park where you get whatever you want
-- That the best thing you can do as a moral being is sacrifice your own interests for others.
I would say that at least two of these are still part of my belief system (and important, challenging parts). But... nothing in our culture has made me think about them until this movie. I got some theological meaning from a stoner comedy, and I'm not ashamed to say so!
Which is weird, since the day before that I was opining as some kind of expert for a forthcoming National Geographic (in the US) special called "Decoding Jesus." You can look for that in December. I just hope it is as good as the stoner movie! Then again, the last time I was on BBC/National Geographic (being replayed a week from today), it was to talk about crack cocaine, so maybe it is not so much of a stretch...
Saturday, July 13, 2013
With Six You Get Eggroll
Repressed Memory # 349
I have this vague recollection of watching a goofy movie called "With Six You Get Eggroll," so I looked it up. Man, is it creepy! In this clip, which features Creed Bratton's band, The Grass Roots, there are about 7,000 creepy elements. How many can YOU find?
I have this vague recollection of watching a goofy movie called "With Six You Get Eggroll," so I looked it up. Man, is it creepy! In this clip, which features Creed Bratton's band, The Grass Roots, there are about 7,000 creepy elements. How many can YOU find?
Friday, July 12, 2013
Haiku Friday: Businesses we miss
Today, let's haiku about businesses we miss... the good ones that slipped away into the dark. It can be a restaurant, a toy store, whatever!
Here is mine:
Trucks went out all ways
They left milk in the chute, dawn.
Still defines morning.
Now, you go! Make if 5 syllables/7 syllables/5 syllables, and have some fun...
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Political Mayhem Thursday: A ban on 5-4 decisions?
On Tuesday, the Waco Farmer made the following comment:
At some point in the past, I jokingly suggested a Constitutional Amendment outlawing 5-4 decisions.
But, in all seriousness, I do not think this 5-4 world is very good for us or what the Founders intended. The first Supreme Court actually had an even number of justices. And the SOP (and political genius) of the Marshall Court was unanimity (Marbury v. Madison was a 6-0 decision).
When the Court is such an obvious extension of partisan politics, I feel we are ill-served.
What an interesting idea! One question I would have is about what happens when the vote is 5-4... do they have to reconsider it, or is considered a tie vote (meaning that the decision below stands)? If the latter, that will give considerably more power to the courts below-- and create different law in different places where the Circuits disagree. This happens already, of course (when the court ties or, much more frequently, denies certiorari), but a 5-4 ban could seriously impinge on the Court's ability to resolve circuit splits.
Is that cost worth it? Overall, what do people think of this intriguing idea?
At some point in the past, I jokingly suggested a Constitutional Amendment outlawing 5-4 decisions.
But, in all seriousness, I do not think this 5-4 world is very good for us or what the Founders intended. The first Supreme Court actually had an even number of justices. And the SOP (and political genius) of the Marshall Court was unanimity (Marbury v. Madison was a 6-0 decision).
When the Court is such an obvious extension of partisan politics, I feel we are ill-served.
What an interesting idea! One question I would have is about what happens when the vote is 5-4... do they have to reconsider it, or is considered a tie vote (meaning that the decision below stands)? If the latter, that will give considerably more power to the courts below-- and create different law in different places where the Circuits disagree. This happens already, of course (when the court ties or, much more frequently, denies certiorari), but a 5-4 ban could seriously impinge on the Court's ability to resolve circuit splits.
Is that cost worth it? Overall, what do people think of this intriguing idea?
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Detroit's 58-minute dilemma...
Yesterday's New York Times featured, on the front page, another depressing story about Detroit. Here was the part that jumped out to me:
"The Detroit police’s average response time to calls for the highest-priority crimes this year was 58 minutes, officials now overseeing the city say. The department’s recent rate of solving cases was 8.7 percent, far lower, the officials acknowledge, than clearance rates in cities like Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and St. Louis."
58 minutes to respond to a murder? Things are truly challenging.
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Fictions of the Court
In these weeks after a blockbuster Supreme Court session, I am often asked by people what I think of various opinions that were issued-- about gay marriage, or voting rights, or affirmative action. Almost never do people ask me about the sentencing cases I actually know about, even the significant Alleyne case that I wrote about with Judge Bennett.
What strikes me about those questions is that they often contain the premise that "The Court" felt this way or that way, or announced a grand principle of some kind. This conception, that "The Court" speaks as one, is both wrong and right.
It is wrong in the sense that most of the controversial decisions are determined through compromise at some level. They result from negotiation and coalition; saying that they propound any single view is like saying that the Italian government (which is usually comprised of unstable coalitions) has such a view on an issue.
It is right in what is probably a more important sense. Those majority opinions, formed by coalition-building and compromise, do project fundamental principles that shape important parts of our law. The fact they grew out of a philosophical Hydra does not mean that they are any less grand. I kind of like the duality of it-- it's like great music coming from a band that is about to break up, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album reduced to paper and citation. There is an elegance in it, a precarious beauty, that may be exactly what our sophisticated forefathers intended.
Monday, July 08, 2013
The long and short....
The long, from David Best:
June Seven, 76’
in Independence Hall.
Richard Henry Lee
made the audacious
call: Resolved, [we] ought to be,
free and independent States.”
“It is rebellion”
The King of England said
“Take all the ships.”
Ties were severed
one by one, as war began
to brew. Common Sense
is what they called, the
fall from grace, of George
and his belligerent states.
But politics takes
time, and some had thoughts of peace.
Recess Congress called.
While five began to write.
Adams, Sherman, Franklin,
Livingston, each played
a role, but Thomas
dipped the quill, and it is this
that he began write:
“When in the course of
human events, it becomes
necessary...”
to break the bonds that tie.
Then that immortal
line, “All men are created equal.”
With Rights, and Life and Liberty
And the pursuit of happiness.
in Independence Hall.
Richard Henry Lee
made the audacious
call: Resolved, [we] ought to be,
free and independent States.”
“It is rebellion”
The King of England said
“Take all the ships.”
Ties were severed
one by one, as war began
to brew. Common Sense
is what they called, the
fall from grace, of George
and his belligerent states.
But politics takes
time, and some had thoughts of peace.
Recess Congress called.
While five began to write.
Adams, Sherman, Franklin,
Livingston, each played
a role, but Thomas
dipped the quill, and it is this
that he began write:
“When in the course of
human events, it becomes
necessary...”
to break the bonds that tie.
Then that immortal
line, “All men are created equal.”
With Rights, and Life and Liberty
And the pursuit of happiness.
The short, from Christine:
Sun sinking, sky blush,
Backdrop, flares launch, explode, ahhh....
For miles upon end.
Backdrop, flares launch, explode, ahhh....
For miles upon end.
Sunday, July 07, 2013
Sunday Reflection: In the hardest of times
The hardest of times always bring on doubt, of course. When a tsunami strikes or a tornado destroys a town or a child dies, so young, we can't help but wonder "How could a loving God, an all-powerful God, allow this?" I know that is the question that comes first to me.
That question, though, is just the start of a conversation within myself. Doubt makes me examine what I believe.
It drives me back to the most basic principle of all, which is this: There is a God, and it is not me. That is, if God exists, he is necessarily greater than I am-- I can not comprehend all that God is. The relationship is necessarily one of greater and lesser, and I am the lesser.
That, in turn, takes me to the humble acknowledgment that I can't know all of what God does, I don't know the plan, or even if there is a plan. The answer to that fervent question, that cry of "Why?" must be "I don't know," humbling as that is. Humbling. Humbling.
And in that humility, deep sadnesses are allowed, anger is understandable, frustration at our limited understanding is a part of it. We are built to feel those things, to live them when that is the season, just as there is a time for joy.
That sadness and anger and frustration are not weaknesses They are, in the hardest of times, a part of not being God.
Saturday, July 06, 2013
It's only been gone a few months...
... but I miss The Office.
So, what is this "Game of Thrones" all about?
So, what is this "Game of Thrones" all about?
Friday, July 05, 2013
Haiku Friday: Independence Day!
It's a great holiday, and it was yesterday! Let's haiku about that. You can remember a great moment from July 4, this or any year.
Here is mine:
A surprise that night
My brother appeared, boom!
My heart jumped, glad.
Now it is your turn... just make if 5 syllables/7syllables/5 syllables, and enjoy yourself!
Thursday, July 04, 2013
Political Mayhem Thursday: Clinton!... Clinton?
I was intrigued by a New York Times piece earlier this week on the potential Presidential candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton. According to the Times, Republicans plan to cast her as too old to be president. She will be 69 at the time of that election.
It seems an odd tactic for a party which has recently run Bob Dole (73) and John McCain (71) in that race. I would add, and this is important, that both Dole and McCain would have been good presidents, in large part because of their considerable experience.
Hillary Clinton doesn't have anything close to the experience as an elected official that Dole and McCain had, though most people think she did an excellent job as both a Senator and as Secretary of State. It is fair to say she has succeeded in every job she has held.
A Clinton/Chris Christie race would be fascinating. Rand Paul or Scott Walker? Not so much... I suspect that Hillary Clinton would undo them quickly.
What are your early bets?
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
For lack of words
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
Health Care Quandary # 428
According to the New York Times, pregnancy care in the United States is much more expensive than in other countries, though the care itself is about the same. Here is part of the article:
[C]harges for delivery have about tripled since 1996, according to an analysis done for The New York Times by Truven Health Analytics. Childbirth in the United States is uniquely expensive, and maternity and newborn care constitute the single biggest category of hospital payouts for most commercial insurers and state Medicaid programs. The cumulative costs of approximately four million annual births is well over $50 billion.
And though maternity care costs far less in other developed countries than it does in the United States, studies show that their citizens do not have less access to care or to high-tech care during pregnancy than Americans.
“It’s not primarily that we get a different bundle of services when we have a baby,” said Gerard Anderson, an economist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who studies international health costs. “It’s that we pay individually for each service and pay more for the services we receive.”
It is clear we need some changes. What should they be?
Monday, July 01, 2013
Haiku and questions....
This was one of those weeks where your haiku left me with a lot of questions (you can check them out here). Here are a few of them:
DiaDelKendall: Tiger's blood sno-cones? What the heck are those???
Christine: You eat grapefruit in your hand like an apple?
Renee: I've been trying to figure out what a "cowy starlet" is...
Marcello: !!!!!
Geoffrey: You made her strawberry shortcake and she complained?
Sally: 15 years? Are you siblings? (yuck!)
Anyways... there was something I love about David Best's this week. Maybe it is the extra word at the end?
DiaDelKendall: Tiger's blood sno-cones? What the heck are those???
Christine: You eat grapefruit in your hand like an apple?
Renee: I've been trying to figure out what a "cowy starlet" is...
Marcello: !!!!!
Geoffrey: You made her strawberry shortcake and she complained?
Sally: 15 years? Are you siblings? (yuck!)
Anyways... there was something I love about David Best's this week. Maybe it is the extra word at the end?
Hot dog on grill.
Sizzle and pop. We know what
they made of. Who cares.
Not gourmet, not
organic. Not hip like your
delicatessens.
Who cares!
Heat from above,
heat from the grill.
Throw on a dog. Who cares!
Beer.
Sizzle and pop. We know what
they made of. Who cares.
Not gourmet, not
organic. Not hip like your
delicatessens.
Who cares!
Heat from above,
heat from the grill.
Throw on a dog. Who cares!
Beer.
