(no subject)

"The most promising solution to America's health care crisis is mandatory insurance. For the same reasons most states require drivers to carry car insurance, the federal government should require all Americans to purchase basic health insurance. Those who cannot afford the full cost should receive public subsidies. Mandatory self-insurance would provide fully portable coverage to all Americans, while lowering insurance costs, raising the quality of care, maintaining a private insurance market and offering citizens more choice."

from To Guarantee Universal Coverage, Require It

I'm not even sure where to start in demonstrating how bad an idea this is.

In other news, there's good reason to believe that Iran, and not Iraq, is responsible for the Halabja "WMD" massacre.

"The agency did find that each side used gas against the other in the battle around Halabja. The condition of the dead Kurds' bodies, however, indicated they had been killed with a blood agent -- that is, a cyanide-based gas -- which Iran was known to use. The Iraqis, who are thought to have used mustard gas in the battle, are not known to have possessed blood agents at the time."

A War Crime or an Act of War?

This article has another interesting perspective about what America will control if it takes over Iraq. Not just its vast oil reserves -- but also its extensive water system, which could give America considerable leverage over the rest of the Middle East by "sharing" this water, at very high price.


And, say, does this raise anyone's eyebrows? The word "Hmm" definitely comes to mind.

"According to the federal indictment, Ms. Randall ordered her subordinates last January to count the number of unprocessed papers in the filing center. They reported that about 90,000 documents were waiting to be handled. In February, the government says, she ordered at least five night-shift workers to begin shredding many boxes of papers.

By the end of March, the backlog had been cut to zero, and Ms. Randall ordered her subordinates to continue destroying incoming paper to keep current, the government says."

I.N.S. Shredder Ended Work Backlog, U.S. Says

(no subject)

There's nothing like a credible suicide threat from a friend to ruin your whole day.

Yesterday right before I left work I checked my email one last time. There was an email from Jeff, my childhood friend from Austin and erstwhile roommate here in NOLA.

Out of work, facing eviction, power and gas cut off, about to lose his cats to the SPCA, his back in constant pain, he figured he'd reached the end of his rope, but before he goes, he was going to get a few things off his chest to everyone around him. He then wrote some of the most vindictive things I've ever read.

He wasn't mean to me, and he apologized to a few people that he'd wronged. But around these apologies he wrote some very mean things to Dee, to James, and the board of trustees of First Church.

I called Rev. Guy, the Rev. called the police, and within an hour Jeff was found and taken to the psych unit at the VA hospital.

Dee made me promise I wouldn't tell him that his words hurt her feelings. She cried for hours and asked me if I would actually have left her like he suggested if he'd succeeded in killing himself.

Absolutely not. If I should ever leave Dee, it is going to be for my own reasons, not because it was the last request of a suicidal friend.

(no subject)

Read this interview with Kurt Vonnegut. Funny, I was just thinking about him yesterday, and then alobar posts this interview. Hmm.

Anyway, Vonnegut's table scraps are more eloquent than my polished essays! I am not worthy to lick his shoes.

http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=alobar&itemid=297580