Fallows watches state-controlled TV and reports. Interesting:
The coverage included a long segment of premier Wen Jiabao reading a speech about his deep concern for the people of Sichuan, from aboard an airplane en route to the disaster scene. Background: after the country was paralyzed by unexpected snow storms in February, the leadership was criticized for a Katrina-like slowness in dealing with the problem. Prominent coverage now of the main officials responding immediately to this disaster.
She’s ten years’ old now and today, walking in the park, she killed a squirrel. She and her younger sister have chased plenty of rodents in their time – and a few seagulls in the flats of the Cape – but they always seem to lose interest at the very end of the chase. Not this time. Dusty was on the extendable leash and quick as a flash, she darted behind a tree. Eddy was on the other side, body low and pointed. A bay went up. I saw Dusty’s head shake, grabbed the leash and pulled her toward me. The poor little thing fell out of Dusty’s mouth, twitched its front paws in the dank grass and gazed at me with its little currant eye for a few seconds before going stiff. I stopped, a little shaken, but both beagles were already sniffing elsewhere, as if the little rodent were a stuffed toy with the squeaker removed or a plastic bottle with the cap chewed off, abandoned once finished with. What should I do? Bury it? Move it? But what would be the point?
I walked on in the rain. Dusty, I hardly knew you, did I?
Will Hutton pushes back against declinism:
It is this strange cocktail of argument, of plural institutions that check and balance, of investing in knowledge and of a belief that no problem can’t be fixed that underpins American strength. China is the only country in the world with a similar continental-scale economy and bigger population that conceivably could mount a challenge, but it has none of these institutions and processes. Despite its size, it has only three universities in the top 100, not one brand in the top 100, not one company in the world top 50 ranked by R&D and it registers virtually no patents.
Yes we can. Everything that is wrong in America can be countered with what is right in America. And the emergence of Obama on the left and McCain on the right is a sign of that. What’s needed is more intelligent and discerning patriotism – the kind that notices problems, flaws, failings and wants to set them right.
Calm down, guys. Calm down.
An unfortunate marketing slogan for the GOP – but a good drug, I’m told. Hey, if I were a Republican, I’d need some anti-anxiety meds as well.
An almost perfect example of why so many have come to find the GOP anathema:
Vito Fossella built a career as a staunch "family values" pol, polishing his image in his predominantly Catholic district with a string of anti-gay votes.
He even shuns his gay sister, Victoria Fossella, refusing to go to family events if she and her partner attend, a source close to the family said.
His double life is now exposed with the news he has a 3-year-old love child with a divorced Air Force colonel, and critics are calling him a hypocrite.
Touchy, touchy.
A reader writes:
Kinsley is fundamentally wrong about genetics and genetic discrimination. He throws in a few points about the unfairness of inherited wealth and other topics, but saying X is bad therefore there no reason Y shouldn’t also be bad is a weak argument. Kinsley doesn’t even bother to explain how his talent example relates to gene-testing based discrimination. He doesn’t because he can’t. Here’s the continued logic of his example:
Let’s say there is a combination of genes for being a cello master.
Does everyone who has that combination have an urge to play cello from the age of 5 and grow up to play like Yo-Yo Ma? No. Are there people without those genes that can become well-respected professional cellists? Yes. Could there be another, unknown combination of genes that also results in great cello playing? Yes. Let’s say we can identify the cello genes of Yo-Yo Ma. Would it be reasonable for a high school orchestra to select a cellist with those genes over a cellist without those genes who works harder and plays better merely on the assumption that the genetically superior cellist has the innate ability to be better even if she doesn’t show the ability? Would it be reasonable for a professional orchestra to hire based on a genetic test rather than current abilities and potential based on those observed abilities and work ethic?
As for insurance, the issues are more complex than Kinsley writes. What if a genetic test shows someone has a 20% increased risk of developing a disease that will cost millions of dollars to treat? The population incidence of this disease is 1/10000 so the chance this person will get the disease is 1/8333. Based on pure capitalism, the insurers choice is easy. Don’t insure this person or charge exorbitant rates. Even though the chance of getting the disease is still small, there is no amount you can charge this person for insurance that would balance out even the small chance of millions of dollars of expenses. Even if getting a genetic test could help improve preventative care, there is no way anyone would get that test without being assured that it wouldn’t affect their ability to get insurance. This is more than a hypothetical situation. I do medical research and we sometimes see incidental findings that really don’t affect people’s daily lives, but might minutely increase risks for future problems. Right now, if we tell a patient about these findings and they do report it to their insurance, they risk losing coverage or having their rates go up. If they don’t report it, they can get their insurance pulled when they try to make a claim since it might be lying about one’s health even if the claim has nothing to do with the finding. If insurers and employers started to make decisions based purely on genetic information, medical research involving genetics would grind to a halt. This is why this bill passed the Congress and Senate and why Dr. Ron Paul should be ashamed of his vote.
[A]mong the 78% of voters who said they believe the economy has slid into a recession, 52% would vote for Obama, compared with 32% for McCain.
Breakin’ and Poppin’ – Alfonso Ribeira from 1985:
