Well, wowie
three weeks into this, and I get a link from the man himself, Instapundit. As egoless as you try to be, it’s hard to explain how good that feels…
He apparently got the link from Gail Davis at MyBlog, so thanks to Gail. I paged over to her, and noticed two things: Her catchphrases are great Liberal and Proud of It, and Armed Women=Polite Men. And she has some great, sensible commentary.
I didnt find permalinks, so youll have to search or scroll, but she has at least three posts which I thought were excellent:
TUCSON POLICE: DAMNED IF THEY DO AND DAMNED IF THEY DON’T Appears that the Tucson Police Department video taped some individuals during an anti-sales tax demonstration. A policy to video tape demonstrations or gatherings that have a potential for violence came as a result of the Fourth Avenue Riot last April which was so incompetently handled by the Tucson Police. I don’t know that there was any reason to think pro-sales tax and anti-sales tax aficionados were going to come to blows. Perhaps the video ensured that they didn’t. I’m not really offended by the police video tapping specific actions during the event as long as those tapes are not retained once the event is over and no further police involvement in the issue is needed. I much prefer a policeman taking a few videos (if they will be discarded) to permanent video cameras installed around public areas.
Taping can serve at least two purposesto allow the police to assemble intelligence by identifying people participating in or leading demonstrations (bad in the event the demonstrations are just that, good in the event that they turn into riots); and to serve as evidence in the event that police or demonstrators misbehave. Reynolds post on my SFSU comment calls for SFSU President Corrigan to release his police tapes; showing the whole world what went on would make a differnce, he thinks. And I agree.
THE CONSERVATIONISTS ARE … Ill advised at best. The following quote is a continuation of Josh Marshall’s weblog entry below.
…I also concluded that many of the most visible hawks really are reckless, ignorant about key issues about the Middle East, and — not that infrequently — indifferent to the truth. They have been underhanded and they have used cheap media ploys.
Reckless and underhanded methods are not limited to those pushing the war or promoting their candidate for public office. Conservationists, who often have good intentions and valid concerns, emulate these methods and end up discrediting themselves. Conservationists have been so narrow minded that they inhibit any rational dialogue. And they do this in the name of “the better good.” Apparently they do not believe
1. That their data can counter those who are underhanded and indifferent to the truth;
2. That given good straightforward information, citizens in this country are able to think for themselves;
3. That we actually have a right to make choices and may not agree with all they propose.
The conservation movement needs to get it’s act together, and stop trying to manipulate us in the same way as do those arch conservative republicans.
Yes, environmentalism has moved from being a discipline aimed at rationally evaluating and preserving the environment to a secular religion
and arent we seeing enough religious wars these days?
I believe that there is a strong and reasonable case for conserving (note that I do not say preserving) the environment. I think that Den Beste is off-base in his attack today on energy conservation (as I thought Friedman was for his view that conservation would somehow insulate us against Islamicist terrorism). But the environmental community is painting itself into a corner by crying wolf so often, and taking positions so extreme and ill-thought-through that they risk pushing the mainstream away.
ALTRUISTIC MEDICINE? Chris Rangel at RangelMD.com says:
: …most physicians are forced into a system where they have to cram in 40 to 50 patients a day (at about 5-10 mins per patient) just to cover the office overhead. They work 12 hour days trying to balance office visits with hospital admissions and emergencies and then have to sit down and fill out paperwork for an additional 2-3 hours after the office is closed. I’m not a bit surprised to see more and more physicians dump Medicare, go to cash only services, and concierge arrangements. Will this create a class divide in the quality of health care? Most assuredly but don’t go off blaming greedy physicians whom you believe are obligated by society to be more altruistic. You want altruistic medicine? There are plenty of places around the world (Canada, China or any communist country, the former Soviet Union) that you can go for socialized medical care. Funny though. I don’t ever seem to recall a flood of people into these countries for the sole purpose of basking in the light of their superior medical systems.
I have a different view of how we got to this point. I think that the medical profession (mainly physicians) became excessively greedy (as a group).
I know a lot of folks whose parents were physicians in the 50s and 60s, and a lot of my peers are doctors now. The big difference is that where their parents expected to do well to lead an upper-middle-class professional lifestyle, the doctors now seem to all expect to get rich.
Ill tie this back to the increase in inequality which I keep harping on, which leads to the feeling that just making $150 – $200K/year really may not be enough to live as well as many of us think we ought to.
Maybe we should rethink?