Volume 73, no. 7 July 2017 In the Vietnam War era, the body count meant actual corpses with a clear cause of death: gunfire, explosion, fire, etc. Each one had a name and could be buried with appropriate military honors. These days, body counts are in huge round numbers and have no identifiable, countable corpses. […]
Volume 73, no. 5 May 2017 Affordable Care Act (ACA) supporter at the Medical Academic Center in Carmel, Indiana, the moderator posed a frequently asked question: “Have you found any common ground?” The same question might be asked of the Republicans’ Freedom Caucus and “moderate” Tuesday Group in the sparring over the narrowly passed American […]
House Speaker Ryan pulled his ObamaCare substitute after 18 principled members of the Freedom Caucus refused to cave to pressure from congressional leaders and the White House. The American Health Care Act (AHCA) fell far short of oft-repeated Republican politicians’ promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). There was said to be no “deal” […]
Volume 73, no. 3 March 2017 Denizens of the healthcare swamp are beginning to self-identify in letters to the Administration, offering to “help” with programs that will preserve their interests. A letter to President Trump and Vice President Pence, signed by more than 120 entities (http://tinyurl.com/hdnbjem), offers to work vigorously to “expand on the quality […]
Volume 73, no. 2 February 2017 The swamp on the Potomac is apparently deeper and more toxic than most could have imagined—and the first efforts to drain it are uncovering the perfidy of Republicans. The Party that campaigned for four election cycles on the promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can’t seem to […]
Volume 73, no. 1 January 2017 Now that they have no excuse, except lack of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, Republicans may renege on the promises that returned them to power, including repeal (not tweaking) of the [Un]Affordable Care Act (ACA). Forgotten are those hurt by ObamaCare, as by losing their insurance, who voted […]
Volume 72, no. 12 December 2016 The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was created in 1960 for the stated purpose of assuring “fair and stable prices” for producers and a steady supply to consumers. For many years OPEC nations built ski resorts in the desert while the U.S. and the rest of the world […]
Volume 72, no. 11 November 2016 A nation’s culture is defined as a unique set of beliefs formed and transmitted through behavior from generation to generation: “historically validated right behavior,” writes John Harmon McElroy (America’s Culture: Its Origins & Enemies, 2016). American culture developed in an exceptional way. Unlike Spain, Portugal, and France, England imposed […]
Volume 72, no. 9 October 2016 In the final days of the Obama Administration’s second term, the “fundamental transformation of America” is accelerating, with the promise that the legacy would be continued under a Hillary Clinton Administration. This would mean the end of one (sovereign) nation under God. Despite its many transgressions, America has been […]
Medicine is at a “critical inflection point,” write Victor Dzau and J. Michael McGinnis of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and Mark McClellan of Duke University (JAMA 8/16/16). The NAM is launching a massive initiative on “Vital Directions for Health Care” at a Sep 26 meeting in Washington, D.C., (http://tinyurl.com/z4shr2b), bringing together more than 100 “trusted health and health care leaders” to “ensure nonpartisan, evidence-based analysis” in the context of the upcoming change in administration.