unc·tu·ous
adj.
1. Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness: "the unctuous, complacent court composer who is consumed with envy and self-loathing" (Rhoda Koenig).
2. Having the quality or characteristics of oil or ointment; slippery.
3. Containing or composed of oil or fat.
4. Abundant in organic materials; soft and rich: unctuous soil.
5. Diane Sawyer, television news personality, who is about to take over as anchor of the ABC Nightly News upon the retirement of Charles Gibson at the end of this year.
This leaves only one network news program, NBC and its host Brian Williams, which hasn’t gone over completely to a soft-news orientation. Props (what the hell does that mean, anyway?) to Katie Couric for what passed as tough questions in her interview with Sarah Palin when other networks were playing paddy cake, but that was the exception for Couric. Asking Palin to "name one" newspaper or magazine she read regularly (she couldn't) earned Couric the enmity of the right, but didn't qualify her as a great journalist.
Sawyer seems to want to conclude every interview with a nice big hug, and her choice to anchor at ABC signals the near death of television news in favor of info-tainment. Along with the near death of daily newspapers, it all seems to signal the end of responsible journalism. The thought of Fox News and the the internet as our only remaining sources of information is truly frightening.
Of interest is today’s column by Michael Gerson, available here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/24/AR2009092403932.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Friday, September 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Essential viewing
Since we reconnected to cable TV last winter, I haven’t been watching much PBS, which we used to get off of our antennae. Too bad. I just got in the mail the PBS Home Video catalogue, and it reminded me that Ken Burns’ series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea begins this Sunday. I’ve set my DVR to record the series.
The catalogue also reminded me of the Frontline documentary "Sick Around the World," in which journalist J.R. Reid “visits six capitalist democracies—France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom—for their ideas about medicine and its delivery to the public. . . .” I watched this program some time ago, well before the election and Obama’s health care initiative, and it made a profound impression on me, convincing me that designing a universal health care system that would best serve American needs really isn’t all that complicated. A well-chosen Blue Ribbon Panel, with a modest budget and competent staff, could do it in a year, as I’ve argued here earlier.
I’d like to order the video and make Congress all watch it together, with no Blackberries, twittering or naps allowed, and then vote yes on the panel’s recommendation within one year or lose their own health insurance. Since I can’t do that, I’ll only say here that I strongly recommend seeing it, and you can order it for $25 from shopPBS.org. I’m going to order the companion "Sick Around America," which I haven’t seen yet and which I expect will be less encouraging.
Btw, I’ve just noticed that my spell check in the new version of Word wants to change Obama to Osama. NOW I understand why people are getting so confused.
The catalogue also reminded me of the Frontline documentary "Sick Around the World," in which journalist J.R. Reid “visits six capitalist democracies—France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom—for their ideas about medicine and its delivery to the public. . . .” I watched this program some time ago, well before the election and Obama’s health care initiative, and it made a profound impression on me, convincing me that designing a universal health care system that would best serve American needs really isn’t all that complicated. A well-chosen Blue Ribbon Panel, with a modest budget and competent staff, could do it in a year, as I’ve argued here earlier.
I’d like to order the video and make Congress all watch it together, with no Blackberries, twittering or naps allowed, and then vote yes on the panel’s recommendation within one year or lose their own health insurance. Since I can’t do that, I’ll only say here that I strongly recommend seeing it, and you can order it for $25 from shopPBS.org. I’m going to order the companion "Sick Around America," which I haven’t seen yet and which I expect will be less encouraging.
Btw, I’ve just noticed that my spell check in the new version of Word wants to change Obama to Osama. NOW I understand why people are getting so confused.
Eh?
My friend Michael Broschat has a very interesting post on his recent Canadian vacation. All I could come up with about ours was "we seen a bear."
I’ve long thought Canada was a much more reasonable country than ours because it lacks our inflated sense of ourselves and our role and responsibilities in the world. Broschat and I were discussing Graham Greene’s The Quiet American recently, a very fine narrative of just the kind of thing I’m talking about. American history might be understood at least in part as the unintended and mostly negative consequences of our sense of our moral selves.
Also greed, but still.
I’ve long thought the world would be a better place if the North had simply allowed the South to secede. I wonder if there was ever any serious discussion of that option. In fact, it may not be too late. At no time since the civil war have we been so divided into red and blue states, and the best solution could be the two-state solution: The red states can realize their dream of small government and legalized discrimination, and the blue states can quickly evolve toward a European-style social democracy. Those who find themselves geographically and ideologically misplaced could just move.
Anyway, Broschat's post is much more interesting and thoughtful than mine, and you can read it here: http://www.michaelbroschat.com/MontlakeBlog/DisplayBlog.aspx
I’ve long thought Canada was a much more reasonable country than ours because it lacks our inflated sense of ourselves and our role and responsibilities in the world. Broschat and I were discussing Graham Greene’s The Quiet American recently, a very fine narrative of just the kind of thing I’m talking about. American history might be understood at least in part as the unintended and mostly negative consequences of our sense of our moral selves.
Also greed, but still.
I’ve long thought the world would be a better place if the North had simply allowed the South to secede. I wonder if there was ever any serious discussion of that option. In fact, it may not be too late. At no time since the civil war have we been so divided into red and blue states, and the best solution could be the two-state solution: The red states can realize their dream of small government and legalized discrimination, and the blue states can quickly evolve toward a European-style social democracy. Those who find themselves geographically and ideologically misplaced could just move.
Anyway, Broschat's post is much more interesting and thoughtful than mine, and you can read it here: http://www.michaelbroschat.com/MontlakeBlog/DisplayBlog.aspx
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Stoopid hurts
I knew these were Harley riders despite the misleading club name.
2 dozen motorcycles crash on I-5 in Ore.(AP) – 15 hours ago
“WILSONVILLE, Ore. — Oregon State Police say more than two dozen motorcycles, most of them belonging to the Brother Speed motorcycle club, crashed on Interstate 5 on Friday afternoon, blocking freeway traffic for hours.Police say the bikers were behind a car when traffic slowed in the northbound lanes near Wilsonville, south of Portland.They say the bikers and car tried to slow but collided, scattering bikes across the pavement.
The Oregonian in Portland reports that two bikers with critical injuries were flown to Portland hospitals by helicopter. Rescue personnel say seven others were treated for shoulder and hip injuries and broken bones.The freeway reopened about 6 p.m., nearly four hours after the accident.”
Want some pictures? http://www.kptv.com/slideshow/traffic/20997318/detail.html
Want to see a video from the club’s website?
http://www.brotherspeedmcoregon.com/content/brothers-speed-videos
Here's more. I'm following this story via an online motorcycle forum, where 9 out of 10 posts are conspicuously lacking in any kind of sympathy for the "victims."
From the Oregon Department of Justice
Brother Speed MCEstablished: May 1969 in Boise, Idaho, United StatesYears active: 1969-present
Territory: Northwestern United States
Ethnicity: WhiteMembership: 150 full-patch members
Criminal activities: Drug trafficking, arms dealing, extortion and money laundering
Allies: Free Souls, Gypsy Jokers and Outsiders
Rivals: Mongols and Vagos
2 dozen motorcycles crash on I-5 in Ore.(AP) – 15 hours ago
“WILSONVILLE, Ore. — Oregon State Police say more than two dozen motorcycles, most of them belonging to the Brother Speed motorcycle club, crashed on Interstate 5 on Friday afternoon, blocking freeway traffic for hours.Police say the bikers were behind a car when traffic slowed in the northbound lanes near Wilsonville, south of Portland.They say the bikers and car tried to slow but collided, scattering bikes across the pavement.
The Oregonian in Portland reports that two bikers with critical injuries were flown to Portland hospitals by helicopter. Rescue personnel say seven others were treated for shoulder and hip injuries and broken bones.The freeway reopened about 6 p.m., nearly four hours after the accident.”
Want some pictures? http://www.kptv.com/slideshow/traffic/20997318/detail.html
Want to see a video from the club’s website?
http://www.brotherspeedmcoregon.com/content/brothers-speed-videos
Here's more. I'm following this story via an online motorcycle forum, where 9 out of 10 posts are conspicuously lacking in any kind of sympathy for the "victims."
From the Oregon Department of Justice
Brother Speed MCEstablished: May 1969 in Boise, Idaho, United StatesYears active: 1969-present
Territory: Northwestern United States
Ethnicity: WhiteMembership: 150 full-patch members
Criminal activities: Drug trafficking, arms dealing, extortion and money laundering
Allies: Free Souls, Gypsy Jokers and Outsiders
Rivals: Mongols and Vagos
Monday, September 21, 2009
Suppost you had to go to the DMV for a flu shot. . . .
I’m so glad Mary and I have private insurance and don’t have some government bureaucrat standing between us and our doctors, telling us which procedures and medicines we can have and which we can’t. (And here I swore off sarcasm for the rest of the year and lasted less than a day.)
A few days ago we each got a letter from our insurance company explaining to us that a number of medications have been placed on a list of meds to be reviewed, and before we can renew the next time, our prescribing physicians have to contact the insurance company and justify why we need this med, why we should continue this med, why a cheaper alternative wouldn’t work just as well, and what would happen if all of a sudden we stopped taking it. The list of meds for review numbers in the hundreds according to the company’s website.
This already happened just a year ago, and our family doctor almost had a stroke he was so angry and frustrated. He had scores of patients (four score and seven, to be exact) who got the letters, and he had to cancel all appointments for a month while he wrote letters to the insurance company arguing that he got it right the first time when he prescribed a specific med for a specific condition. He also had to cut back on his golf games.
This year, I am informed the insurance company is going to review a med I’ve been on for about five years now, one that, let’s say, has substantially improved my quality of life. Without revealing a lot of personal information, let’s also say that without this medicine I turn into a vampire, and stopping it or substituting a cheaper alternative would not be in my best interests or those of society. Mary’s target med prevents certain plagues and back hair. It might be considered cosmetic.
The thing is, despite all the hassle for our doctors, I support this kind of periodic cost/benefit review. It’s an important component of keeping medical costs down, and it ensures that I still need all these prescriptions I take. Maybe chocolate pudding no longer triggers my hallucinations. Maybe you don't need that codein that the doctor prescribed six years ago for your toothache.
The problem is that the four score and twenty separate insurance companies in Oregon each have their own list of meds for review, and rather than being a once annual, or bi-annual or semi-annual, routine chore, it’s a never-ending process in the doctor’s office. Novak might have to give up not only golf but also martini lunches.
Of course, if this were a requirement in a public-option health plan, Republican lawmakers and their lunatic fringe town-hall bashing unwashed psycho mobs would be screaming about the evils of socialized medicine. But since it’s my private insurance company, all this will pass without comment or discussion in the media.
Because America still has the best health care system in the world. (There I go again.)
And btw, I almost never have to go to the DMV anymore since almost all their business can now be done online. This is not necessarily a good thing, since at my age, it's important to determine that I can at least still find the DMV and drive there without running over a child. Be that as it may, the few times I've actually had to stop by in recent years, I took a number, waited a few minutes, and was helped by a courteous and efficient staff member.
I don't know what all the fuss is about the DMV as a bad example of what would happen to virtually all services once Obama has his way and we turn into a Nazi/Socialist/Communist nation. The DMV has been more or less a pleasure to visit, way more pleasant than a visit to my family medical clinic, where taking a number might be considered to imply I might actually get back to see the doctor that day and where, literally, sooner or later, they will have me by the balls.
A few days ago we each got a letter from our insurance company explaining to us that a number of medications have been placed on a list of meds to be reviewed, and before we can renew the next time, our prescribing physicians have to contact the insurance company and justify why we need this med, why we should continue this med, why a cheaper alternative wouldn’t work just as well, and what would happen if all of a sudden we stopped taking it. The list of meds for review numbers in the hundreds according to the company’s website.
This already happened just a year ago, and our family doctor almost had a stroke he was so angry and frustrated. He had scores of patients (four score and seven, to be exact) who got the letters, and he had to cancel all appointments for a month while he wrote letters to the insurance company arguing that he got it right the first time when he prescribed a specific med for a specific condition. He also had to cut back on his golf games.
This year, I am informed the insurance company is going to review a med I’ve been on for about five years now, one that, let’s say, has substantially improved my quality of life. Without revealing a lot of personal information, let’s also say that without this medicine I turn into a vampire, and stopping it or substituting a cheaper alternative would not be in my best interests or those of society. Mary’s target med prevents certain plagues and back hair. It might be considered cosmetic.
The thing is, despite all the hassle for our doctors, I support this kind of periodic cost/benefit review. It’s an important component of keeping medical costs down, and it ensures that I still need all these prescriptions I take. Maybe chocolate pudding no longer triggers my hallucinations. Maybe you don't need that codein that the doctor prescribed six years ago for your toothache.
The problem is that the four score and twenty separate insurance companies in Oregon each have their own list of meds for review, and rather than being a once annual, or bi-annual or semi-annual, routine chore, it’s a never-ending process in the doctor’s office. Novak might have to give up not only golf but also martini lunches.
Of course, if this were a requirement in a public-option health plan, Republican lawmakers and their lunatic fringe town-hall bashing unwashed psycho mobs would be screaming about the evils of socialized medicine. But since it’s my private insurance company, all this will pass without comment or discussion in the media.
Because America still has the best health care system in the world. (There I go again.)
And btw, I almost never have to go to the DMV anymore since almost all their business can now be done online. This is not necessarily a good thing, since at my age, it's important to determine that I can at least still find the DMV and drive there without running over a child. Be that as it may, the few times I've actually had to stop by in recent years, I took a number, waited a few minutes, and was helped by a courteous and efficient staff member.
I don't know what all the fuss is about the DMV as a bad example of what would happen to virtually all services once Obama has his way and we turn into a Nazi/Socialist/Communist nation. The DMV has been more or less a pleasure to visit, way more pleasant than a visit to my family medical clinic, where taking a number might be considered to imply I might actually get back to see the doctor that day and where, literally, sooner or later, they will have me by the balls.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Let's also add. . . .
Matt Miller, who said: "Liberals should make peace with the notion that a regulated market of competing private health plans can be the vehicle for getting everyone covered. Yes, it means that unlike some other advanced countries, we'll have billions of "health" dollars siphoned off by middlemen and marketers. But if liberals think of it as a jobs program, they'll learn to love it. If everyone's covered and insurer "cherry-picking" is dead, health insurance will come to look more like a regulated utility. "
He said that and more here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/07/AR2009090702070.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Neither of these writers, whose columns just happen to appear on the same day, fully represent my thinking on health care reform. They do, though, make me think about other ways to achieve what are our commonly held goals and values, and they have every appearance of being the kind of rational, results-oriented thinkers who can move a plan forward.
See, the thing is, the Republican party has forfeited its right and responsibility to participate in this debate. What we need now is not a good compromise plan but a great new plan, and one that we can sell to the Blue Dog Democrats. The Blue Dogs need to understand that if they want the Democratic Party help they'll need to get reelected, they need to get on board with what will become the President's endorsement of the Blue Ribbon plan.
I, by the way, have no binding commitments over the next year or so and I'm very good on committees.
He said that and more here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/07/AR2009090702070.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Neither of these writers, whose columns just happen to appear on the same day, fully represent my thinking on health care reform. They do, though, make me think about other ways to achieve what are our commonly held goals and values, and they have every appearance of being the kind of rational, results-oriented thinkers who can move a plan forward.
See, the thing is, the Republican party has forfeited its right and responsibility to participate in this debate. What we need now is not a good compromise plan but a great new plan, and one that we can sell to the Blue Dog Democrats. The Blue Dogs need to understand that if they want the Democratic Party help they'll need to get reelected, they need to get on board with what will become the President's endorsement of the Blue Ribbon plan.
I, by the way, have no binding commitments over the next year or so and I'm very good on committees.
Pabst
The only thing worse than a horse designed by a committee might be a horse designed by a Congressional committee.
A few days ago, I suggested a “Blue Ribbon Panel” of experts to design, more or less from the ground up, a new system of paying for health care with the goals of “preserving quality, controlling costs, and covering everybody.” I now nominate Dr. Arthur Feldman, who has a column in today’s Washington Post, to serve on that committee. You can read his column here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/04/AR2009090402274.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&sid=ST2009090702562
Feldman might not have it all right, but he represents an essential point of view in the debate, and sitting together at a table with a dozen or so other experts with different perspectives, I’m confident such a panel could devise and design an excellent new health care system in one year.
The report and recommendations that come from such a committee would then become the President’s proposal for health care reform, and I’m convinced Obama could bring enormous pressure on Congress to pass it. In this way, the initial bill that goes before Congress for debate is designed not by politicians whose agendas are tied up in party politics and the need to get reelected, but by representatives of true stake-holders whose agenda is to design a health care system that might truly be called “the best in the world.”
A few days ago, I suggested a “Blue Ribbon Panel” of experts to design, more or less from the ground up, a new system of paying for health care with the goals of “preserving quality, controlling costs, and covering everybody.” I now nominate Dr. Arthur Feldman, who has a column in today’s Washington Post, to serve on that committee. You can read his column here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/04/AR2009090402274.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&sid=ST2009090702562
Feldman might not have it all right, but he represents an essential point of view in the debate, and sitting together at a table with a dozen or so other experts with different perspectives, I’m confident such a panel could devise and design an excellent new health care system in one year.
The report and recommendations that come from such a committee would then become the President’s proposal for health care reform, and I’m convinced Obama could bring enormous pressure on Congress to pass it. In this way, the initial bill that goes before Congress for debate is designed not by politicians whose agendas are tied up in party politics and the need to get reelected, but by representatives of true stake-holders whose agenda is to design a health care system that might truly be called “the best in the world.”
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Roy Rogers; no Trigger
Saturday I went to the second annual K-Falls blues festival. I missed the first. It seems that every town bigger than a breadbox has to have a blues festival these days. But the lineup of West Coast blues bands sounded promising, even though I'd never heard of any of them before. In fact, it was an enjoyable afternoon, and all the performers were worth turning out for, if not exactly world-class.
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Except the final act, slide guitarist Roy Rogers and his band The Delta Rhythm Kings. Actually, three white guys from California, but Rogers, who in fact was named for America's Singing Cowboy, turns out to be maybe the best blues guitarist I've ever heard. I sat electrified for an hour or so and would have happily stayed another hour, even though the sun had dropped behind the hills and I was getting cold.
Roger's playing features blinding speed on the fret board, frequent dramatic changes in tempo and rhythm, and an endless stream of melodic surprises. He's tourning again after a number of years in semi-retirement. If you get a chance to see him, don't pass it up.
US Out of Afghanistan?
Another writer I almost never agree with is George Will. In fact, Will fairly recently made my list of "I don't read him anymore" columnists when he pontificated about bluejeans as the cause and symbol of the decline of civilization. Really, it came down to "I don't like bluejeans," this from a guy who always wears bow ties. Big surprise.
But in his column today, Will argues that the war in Afghanistan is unwinable, that there's nothing to be gained there, and that Af-stan is no more dangerous to the US than other failed states such as Somalia and Yemen:
"So, instead, forces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy: America should do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent Special Forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters. " He doesn't mention that a majority of Americans now feel the same way and support withdrawal of US troops.
My crystal ball doesn't show a drawdown before the start of an Obama second term, but it will happen sooner or later and it will look a lot as Will describes. We just need to watch out for Afghans wearing bluejeans.
But in his column today, Will argues that the war in Afghanistan is unwinable, that there's nothing to be gained there, and that Af-stan is no more dangerous to the US than other failed states such as Somalia and Yemen:
"So, instead, forces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy: America should do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent Special Forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters. " He doesn't mention that a majority of Americans now feel the same way and support withdrawal of US troops.
My crystal ball doesn't show a drawdown before the start of an Obama second term, but it will happen sooner or later and it will look a lot as Will describes. We just need to watch out for Afghans wearing bluejeans.
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