In an effort to get to some actual truth, PBS created this Frontline investigation into the health care systems of Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland. It apparently is the full show, warts and all, of each nation’s system.
Even when showing the true pros and cons, we don’t stack up among the best.This truly needs to change.
Marketplace concluded it’s series called “Working” yesterday and once again it was a pretty illuminating look at the life of someone just trying to get by in this world.
I presume that after 29 stories they just ran out of funds to keep it going but it was entertaining and instructive to hear how people fall into the work they do and how they strive to do it to the utmost, whether legal or not.
Absolute genius. Thanks, Bernie!
Remember when this country had big dreams and didn’t settle for less?
Remember when we didn’t check on focus groups or gave a shit what lobbyists told us?
Remember when big business just sucked it up and did the damn job?
THAT and a dose of hope and optimism got us to the moon. Not GOP whining and fear tactics.
Learn from this, be amazed of what we used to be able to accomplish in this country, and let’s try to regain our glory.
Another sign of the recession: rest stops are closing up across America.
Face it, when states can’t even afford to let visitors easily take a pee break, we’ve got some financial issues to fix in this country. And meanwhile, governors across America are trying to reject stimulus money and instead focus on cheating on their wives or just plain quitting their jobs to go fishing.
Genius!
This article calls out NPR on being too timid to call out torture for what it is. Instead, they fall back on the Cheney-style euphemisms for what is, to be completely honest, torture.
This is the continuing problem I have with NPR and the author gives some reasons for why this is how it is. There are some great shows, with fantastic hosts, but the whole “let’s suck up to the Republicans” meme really brings down the quality.
A lot.
Enough to stop me from donating anything to them. Ah well. You really do hope for more. Why is is wrong to call racists racist? Or corporate-paid politicians enemies of the common man? Or the folks stocking up on guns because we have a black President traitors?
Wrong is still wrong, right?
I got this via Leslie via her friend Donica.
Basically a grim look at what fate would befall fairy tale princesses in our gritty, depressing real life world.
Remember kids, nightmares count as dreams too.
Ebert calls out O’Reilly and his ilk for sullying the public discourse and making things worse than they already are.
Kudos, Roger.
I’ve noticed some real good advice and some real honest opinions from women in the media lately.
On Rachel Maddow awhile back, she interviewed Jennifer Boulanger, Executive Director for the Allentown, PA Women’s Center, who gave some chilling descriptions of the “compassionate conservative” scumbags who assault her staff, her clinic’s patients, and herself. Even if you do not approve of abortion (and, really, who does?), I would like to think you’d be appalled at the level of hate so-called Christians have on this issue.
At one point, she tried to appeal to our nation’s better nature. Unfortunately, there isn’t much of that around anymore.
On the same subject is Rozalyn Farmer Love, a third year medical student who plans to practice in women’s health. She explains how and why she came to the conclusion that should she be confronted to have to perform an abortion, she will do her job. Yes, she grew up in a religious family, but dogma will not overcome he need to act in her patient’s best interests. It is a pretty powerful read from someone about to be thrown into the front lines of a very touchy subject.
Lastly, some VERY no-nonsense economic advise from 93-year old Dr. Anna Schwartz. This was a delight to listen to, even though it was harsh medicine to swallow.
We need to stop listening to the misogynists in the GOP who hate women except when they can use a random beauty pageant winner as a prop to spread hate and fear and actually listen to the female voices in our society.
Marketplace had a great series recently on the subject of unemployment and how it is handled from state to state.
You’d be surprised on how valued it is in progressive states and how ignored in the southern, anti-union, anti-worker states. I mean, you would expect certain trends, but not the true disparity that exists between, say, Oregon and South Carolina.
In short, conservative “red” states suck.