The Commentariat -- Dec. 27, 2013
Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "President Obama signed a sweeping defense policy law here Thursday that cracks down on sexual assault in the military and eases restrictions on transferring detainees from the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the custody of foreign countries." ...
... Jennifer Epstein of Politico: "President Barack Obama has signed a bill that provides a broad outline for the federal budget through 2015 and eases some of sequestration's cuts, the White House said Thursday." ...
... Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "With the next budget deadline just weeks away, top lawmakers said this week that they had made significant progress negotiating a huge government-wide spending bill that gives the once mighty congressional Appropriations Committees an opportunity to reassert control over the flow of federal dollars."
Peter Whoriskey & Dan Keating of the Washington Post: "... over the past decade, the number of 'hospice survivors' in the United States has risen dramatically, in part because hospice companies earn more by recruiting patients who aren't actually dying, a Washington Post investigation has found. Healthier patients are more profitable because they require fewer visits and stay enrolled longer.... For five years, Medicare's watchdog group has been recommending that the payments to hospice companies be revised to eliminate the financial incentive for improper care, but Medicare has not yet done so." CW: I don't know what Kathleen Sebelius has been doing in Washington, but I know what she hasn't been doing -- her job. ...
... MEANWHILE, over at Veterans' Affairs, Secretary Eric Shinseki is right proud that the claims backlog is way down "to 722,013, from a high of 883,930 in July 2012." CW: Maybe Shinseki spends too much time partying with Sebelius. These people embarrass me.
Phillip Longman & Paul Hewitt in the Washington Monthly: "A frenzy of hospital mergers could leave the typical American family spending 50 percent of its income on health care within ten years -- and blaming the Democrats. The solution requires banning price discrimination by monopolistic hospitals." ...
... Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The enrollment figures may be well short of what the Obama administration had hoped for. But the fact that a significant number of Americans are now benefiting from the program is resulting in a subtle shift among Republicans." CW: "A subtle shift"? Read the story. The usual sound & fury, if you ask me.
Tracy Jan of the Boston Globe: "Even as President Obama's health insurance website limps to recovery, at least two states that used the same contractor and are still plagued with malfunctions -- Massachusetts and Vermont -- are taking preliminary steps to recoup taxpayer dollars. Massachusetts officials are reviewing legal options against CGI Group, a Montreal-based information technology company, and will make recommendations on how to seek financial redress at a Jan. 9 meeting."
Paul Krugman: High unemployment benefits the corporation at the expense of workers, which could explain why Republicans don't care about the unemployed & why populist goals are dependent upon jobs creation.
Theda Skocpol in the Atlantic on why the Tea Party will remain a strong force in GOP politics.
AND the Winner Is.... Glenn Greenwald easily bests Tom Coburn in NBC News's "Worst Guest of the Week" competition. (Coburn's entry here.)
Katherine Skiba of the Chicago Tribune has a profile of Michelle Obama at age 50. Obama's birthday in January 17.
CW: Here's the news from Right Wing World, & the level of craziness is alarming. The Washington Examiner is not the looniest of right-wing rags, but here's what the Examiner's regular columnist Paul Bedard writes: "A top financial advisor, [David Marotta,] worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a 'bug-out bag' that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive. David John Marotta, a Wall Street expert and financial advisor and Forbes contributor, said in a note to investors, 'Firearms are the last item on the list, but they are on the list. There are some terrible people in this world. And you are safer when your trusted neighbors have firearms.'" ...
... According to Jordan Weissman of the Atlantic, one of the teensy problems with Bedard's report is that Marotta was only kidding. "... most of [what Marotta says] seems to be fairly tongue-in-cheek material aimed at talking potential clients down from investing in some of the crazy, survivalist scams advertised on conservative talk radio. And the first scam on his agenda? Plowing all your money into gold, of course."
News Ledes
AP: "Target said Friday that debit-card PINs were among the financial information stolen from millions of customers who shopped at the retailer earlier this month. The company said the stolen personal identification numbers, which customers type into keypads to make secure transactions, were encrypted and that this strongly reduces risk to customers. In addition to the encrypted PINs, customer names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on back of the cards were stolen from about 40 million credit and debit cards used at Target stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15."
Hartford Courant: "State police released thousands of investigative documents related to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre Friday. The more than 6,500 pages is heavily redacted with witness statements from some of the 12 children who survived the massacre partially blacked out. The release closes the state police investigation.... State police also released 911 calls that they received on cell phones including two from inside the school as the shooting was taking place."
New York Times: "India's diplomatic corps, still seething over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York, continued its tit-for-tat campaign against American diplomats this week, revoking privileges, beginning tax investigations and issuing new consular identity cards that say the card holder can be arrested for serious offenses."
New York Times: "A long-simmering dispute between the United States and Japan over the fate of a Marine base on Okinawa seemed to have been resolved on Friday when the governor of the prefecture gave his approval to move the base to a remote area." ...
... AFP Update: "Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Friday praised a decision by Japanese officials to allow the relocation of a US air base in Okinawa, calling it a 'milestone' for relations with Tokyo."
New York Times: "Just a day after Egypt's military-backed government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, a more aggressive crackdown was already emerging Thursday, as the authorities announced dozens of arrests across the country, and the seizure of land, stocks and vehicles belonging to the Islamist movement's members."
AP: "A powerful bombing rocked a central business district of central Beirut[, Lebanon,] Friday, setting cars ablaze and killing five people, including a senior aide to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, officials said. The National News Agency said Mohammed Chatah and his driver were both killed in the explosion, which wounded more than 70 others."
Guardian: "African leaders who met in South Sudan to try to mediate a conflict that threatens to unravel the world's newest country said talks had been 'promising' but admitted that it was not clear when a ceasefire might be agreed. Following nearly two weeks of fighting which has left thousands dead, a high-level delegation including the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Ethiopia's prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, landed in the capital Juba to meet President Salva Kiir on Thursday."
Times-Picayune: "A shooting spree Thursday night (Dec. 26) in Lafourche Parish left four people dead, including the suspected gunman, according to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office. The dead include a Lafourche Parish councilman's wife, the suspect's wife, an Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital administrator as well as the suspect, the Sheriff's Office said."
Times-Picayune: "Authorities continued searching Thursday night for the person they believe opened fire in a crowd of nearly 75 people outside of an Olde Towne bar, killing two and injuring six others. Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith said at a news conference Thursday that police have identified a potential suspect, but would not release any information...."
AP: "Thailand's army chief on Friday urged both sides in the country's bitter political dispute to show restraint, but did not explicitly rule out the possibility of a coup."
Reuters: "Six more of the 30 Greenpeace activists arrested in a protest over Arctic oil drilling left Russia on Friday after being granted an amnesty, the environmental group said."
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Reader Comments (9)
The other day Rose in Michigan mentioned this site: http://jesusneverexisted.com/
I took a quick look at many of the assertions on the site, & they seem more or less accurate, though lacking in any nuance. (The linked sites probably provide some nuance.)
My problem with sites like this is with their nasty tone. The author or authors either lack understanding of or just don't care about the reasons the myths developed. They see the whole process as a racket, a cynical view that disregards or flat-out misrepresents the motives of the Gospel writers & of early Jesus followers. The site's writers show no appreciation for the literary & philosophical value of the Gospels nor for the political, sociological & economic conditions that made the various forms of early Christianity appealing to the peoples of the region.
While it's highly unlikely that there was one guy who was the "real Jesus" whose biography vaguely matched that created by the Gospel writers (and certainly there was no "real Jesus" born of a virgin & resurrected -- parts of the story that don't appear in Mark, the first Gospel written), I find the nah-ni-nah-ni-nah-ni approach too abrasive & unjustified. It sounds like half of a Christmas dinner argument between a born-again drunken uncle and a smart-ass drunken kid. Yeah, maybe the uncle with his fake piety & surly dogmatism deserves a telling-off, but do we all? I don't think so.
Marie
Marie,
Atheists have been fair game in this country in all of my 63 years. Even now that black people's color and gay people's sexuality have become off-limits to anyone who wants to be considered reasonable, the religious drummers still vilify atheists with no apparent adverse consequences.
That said, I agree that we can take our foot off the strident pedal, at least in mixed company. While I doubt that Christianity started out as a racket (more likely it was a celestial version of "wait until your father gets home," which is tiresome enough), it certainly has functioned as a racket many times in the years since. Just ask Martin Luther.
We've made great inroads in the last twenty years. Most of my students are juniors and seniors in high school from homes that are headed by one or two professionals. Very few are actively religious. The rest range from nominal Christians who go to church on special occasions to those who were baptized but have been given no religious instruction to those like my kids who were never even baptized.
So, to speak viciously is to assume the pose of the loser. We're not losing. We're winning. And it's not just the war on christmas. Just wait until our war on the feast of the immaculate conception (which most people don't know is actually about Mary's conception; you don't have to believe it to find it fascinating) kicks off. It'll be awesome.
Jack
When I think of people who would clear a room faster than a dog fart, Glenn Greenwald comes to mind. I've never seen him when he wasn't righteously angry about something. What a completely unhappy, unpleasant fellow. Its very hard to get past his demeanor and attitude to potential substance.
I, too, went to the sites that Rose linked and within minutes after listening to some guy ranting turned it off as I am "turned off" by these kinds of strident toned arguments; "bad form" as my mother used to say. I find the genesis of all religions fascinating and worthy of study as history and literature and because these religions (stories, myths) have had such an impact on human beings throughout the ages they need to be taken seriously and argued seriously–– something Marie is able to do with great aplomb.
The other day was in conversation with one of my neighbors, a young woman who was conflicted about a baptism for her baby, something her in-laws were pushing, but she and husband, not being religious, weren't keen on. What did baptism mean to her, I asked. She confessed she really hadn't thought about it, but guessed it was some kind of purification of being born into sin. How about a Blessing Day, I said––a lovely ceremony to welcome her daughter into the world––read a few poems, pass around the crudites and bubbly and have a good time. She thought that a splendid idea.
In comparison with the First Gulf War, Vietnam and WWII, a staggering number of the 1.6 million Afghan/Iraq War veterans (est. 45%) are claiming disability and the average number of disabilities each is claiming has almost quadrupled (8 vs 2) since WWII. I would hope and expect that the Veterans Administration would act with all DELIBERATE speed in assessing these claims.
I am a Vietnam Era veteran who has lived with tinnitus, a constant ringing in both ears, for 50 years. It never even occurred to me to file a claim for disability. Fifty-five thousand of my peers, many draftees, whose names are on a wall in Washington, would be happy to be alive today ringing or no ringing. As am I.
The shame may not be all on one side in this situation.
@David. Thanks for your input & the added perspective it provides.
A friend of mine lost a leg below the knee in Vietnam; we knew another guy whose knee got messed up in a motorcycle accident while he was serving stateside. That guy got more VA disability compensation than did my friend. (They had similar educational backgrounds & jobs.) Likely a lot of readers will know of similar disparities (or at least apparent disparities). It seemed to me something about the assessment system was awry back then. Maybe the VA is more careful now. But they still need more staff & a data system that can accommodate the claims.
Marie
Yesterday morning a friend phoned to offer her thoughts with a suggestion on a way to help a couple we both know. His health is seriously compromised and he should have significant home care to say the least. He is in his 90's, his wife is 72 —making her the 24/7/365 caregiver—since hiring/paying for outside assistance is unaffordable. Even though he is not dying or anywhere near...my friend suggested Hospice as an option. She said, "...it isn't like everyone thinks. He doesn't need to be terminal. They'll do it, you just need a doctor's approval and they'll have people to assist."
Was this true? How was this covered? Then last night I spotted WaPo 'front page' online story that CW linked this morning: Hospice firms draining billions from Medicare
"...over the past decade, the number of “hospice survivors” in the United States has risen dramatically, in part because hospice companies earn more by recruiting patients who aren’t actually dying, a Washington Post investigation has found. Healthier patients are more profitable because they require fewer visits and stay enrolled longer."
As usual, private firms have seen an opportunity for a profit, but what options are there for individuals and families caught in this dilemma?
Religion or politics? Not a new thought here, but I see them as very close kin if not twinned from conception, whether their quickening was immaculate or not.
Their similarity lies in the credulousness certain brands of each require for their sustenance and perpetuation, credulousness which some personalities bring to the table, eager even to meet nonsense more than half way.
Whether we are speaking of politics or religion, the manifestly untrue or unprovable, the claims to questionable authority or even divinity are repeatedly swallowed whole by the same millions who happily shun or vilify the relative few who voice doubt or skepticism. To believers, doubt is the greatest threat of all.
So religion and politics are close cousins indeed. The assumptions of their practitioners and adherents may well be wrong; all the evidence would say so. And if there were no more to the scene than adults indulgently watching their children at play, swaddling themselves in harmless nonsense that the adults know from their experience the children they love will grow out of, that would be the end of the story.
Unfortunately when adults persist in acting like children, the consequences are often dire, and old and young alike have to deal with them. Childhood may be a time of innocence, but for a species arrested development certainly is not.
If Jack is right, we're growing up. I can only hope so.
@Re: Hospice and VA. I could go on hospice at any time because of my ALS. Since ALS is always fatal, the only unknown is how long it takes to die. I was on hospice for awhile, but was dischrged because I wasn't declining fast enough. If I ever need it, I'll go through the VA. So far, it's looking good for me--I won't need it any time soon, so I can continue pestering you with my opinions.
The VA currently uses contract physicians in private practce in our area to evaluate service-connected disability. I have a 10% hearing loss due to an enemy satchel charge with tinnitus. The VA gave me a set of hearing aids which don't help the tinnitus, but I can hear. Do I feel guilty? No. I also got a nice wheelchair and a system for typing with my eyes and speech assistance. Because for unknown reasons, veterans have a higher risk of ALS, I have a 100% service-connected disabiity rating, with its attendant disabilty pay. Wouldc I trade all of that to not have ALS? Of course. The VA is good to me. They have a professional, caring staff.
If the geniuses in DC would stop sending us into pointless wars, a lot of this would be unnecessary.
Bob Hicks