Maybe Everyone Isn't a Helicopter Parent

How is this kind of a story worthy of news? I love the moral of the story, and Lenore Skenazy is right on, but what the fuck! Is it that amazing that a 9 year old can understand what a train map is, what a bus map is and then successfully not fall off the face of the Earth?!

Here is a Daily Mail (British newspaper) article contrasting the area a great-grandfather, grandfather, mother, and son were allowed to roam unattended in their hometown growing up. When this type of anecdotal information is mapped out, it seems quite disturbing. There is something fundamentally wrong with saying "The newest generation is going to hell because of:

• overprotective parents
• internet (myspace / facebook)
• violent video games
• grunge music
  
• crack cocaine
• disco
• drugs
• free-love
• rock and roll
• women wearing pants
• the horseless carriage

I try my hardest to always temper over-excitement by saying "The kids are alright." I still have the urge to tell how I was allowed to walk to school 50 miles, over broken glass, naked, with my older brothers on my back. In all honesty though, I was allowed to pretty much ride my bike wherever I wanted to by the time I was in 4-5th grade (max of about 20 mile radius due to exhaustion).

There's someone close to me that doesn't do well with driving or directions by himself because, "What if I get lost?" Something tells me his parents didn't encourage experiences like Leonore Skenazy does.

Our media saturation of tragedies has skewed our understanding of reasonable risk. Individually my future children are no more likely to be abducted / molested than to be mauled by a opera singing, hairlipped, eskimo. I know that's not entirely true, but we have to understand that our world today is very nearly as safe as it was in the "good old days".


Well, on second thought, there may be good reason for at least a little paranoia...

Stuff White People Like: Free Healthcare

It seems like I've been on a binge of healthcare related articles recently and I couldn't help but notice this article from Stuff White People Like.

Personally I think they overlooked a large part of what the allure of Free Healthcare is: Knowing What's Best for Poor People.

Anti Government Hippies, and Government Healthcare

If you read Reason's Hit and Run blog you will see the vast majority of what gets me hot and bothered. It's a libertarian think tank that has a similar distaste for statists (read: socialists) and paternalists (read staunch conservatives). They never fail to please, especially with this.





What is it with anti-war protester's and thinking that government as an entity can do nothing right. Hippies should not be saying this, because they're making me agree with them! That cannot be right. At the same time though, before dreadlocks come to rest from their epileptic description of genocide for oil, if asked about universal healthcare, you'll hear about a bunch of mindless drivel about how awesome the government could be if only it had the power to regulate everything healthcare related!


I say government, by the simple fact that they have to manage over 300 million people are incapable of developing, let alone maintaining, a system that is fair (by my standards) and doesn't cause more problems than already exist. The US government is not inherently evil; I would have the same reservations if this system were to be managed by the most benevolent and competent organization in the world.

What is great though, is that the one girl is willing to say that she doesn't fully understand how she hate's government because of war, but looks to the government for all the answers regarding healthcare. She's willing to say she isn't entirely informed. That's awesome! If we are reasonable creatures we have to be willing to acknowledge our lack of knowledge sometimes. I like to think I'd be willing to say I'm wrong (if it ever ends up happening).

Government Managed Healthcare: How Do You Decide What's Covered?

What kind of system needs to be in place to determine what is and what is not covered by Universal Health Care Dollars: British style.



Article by Maggie Mahar on the NICE system in Brittain. NICE is used to evaluate technologies and procedures based on the effectiveness per dollar. Basically if there is a technology out there which is A-OK but there is one that comes out which is twice as expensive, but a little better, the NICE system publishes this and basically decides that the new technology will not be covered by the national system's dollars. This is all well and good, but it brings forth a question of what people are allowed to pay for. This makes very reasonable sense if you have a large, over-arching system which is in charge of everyone's care (and the associated cost there-of).

Reason does a terrific job of bringing to light some problems with this type of system:
Reason:
"
Debbie Hirst, a woman with metastasized breast cancer, wanted to take Avastin, a drug that, per The New York Times, is "widely used in the United States and Europe to keep such cancers at bay." The NHS refused to pay for it, saying it was too expensive. That much is par for the course in a system that holds down costs by rationing care according to standards set by a single central authority. But then Hirst, with the support of her oncologist, decided to raise the $120,000 she'd need to pay for the drug on her own, mainly by selling her house. The NHS said she was perfectly free to do that, but then she would have to pay for all of her care out of pocket, a financial burden that was far beyond her means.
"



NY Times article on the woman will breast cancer in Brittain:
"
Officials said that allowing Mrs. Hirst and others like her to pay for extra drugs to supplement government care would violate the philosophy of the health service by giving richer patients an unfair advantage over poorer ones. Patients "cannot, in one episode of treatment, be treated on the N.H.S. and then allowed, as part of the same episode and the same treatment, to pay money for more drugs," the health secretary, Alan Johnson, told Parliament. "That way lies the end of the founding principles of the N.H.S.," Mr. Johnson said.
"
There are many moral hurdles which must be crossed when we start down this path. Having an independent agency which reviews technologies for effectiveness for dollar is perfectly reasonable for a universal coverage system. There must, however, be the option of utilizing your own money for getting the best possible treatment at any cost. We must realize the following:

• There will (and should) be a two-tiered system
• People should be arguing for universal coverage, not equality in all things healthcare

• There will be points at which a bureaucrat says, "Nope, you've spent too much, you can't get that surgery" Or, "Well, it may extend your life, but there's only a 10% chance, we're not willing to spend $xxx,xxx of tax-payer dollars for this" Or, "Well, since you've smoked your life away, we will not pay for a lung transplant".

• We need to seriously look at the incentives currently in place for primary care doctors
• Right now, there is a bias towards specialization that very well may cause a shortage of primary care docs. Just generalizing here, but specialists (orthopaedics, cardiologists, and the like) get paid 3+ times more than a primary care doc. Since the baby-boomers will be needing more consistent care here soon, and if there is a flood of millions upon millions of newly insured individuals, there will be a massive shortage of primary care docs to understand and manage a patient's health situation.

So what's to be concluded from all of this? Well, I don't think there's any way of us not having universal health-care in the future. It just makes people feel better about themselves when we can say, "Everyone has a right to live healthy." By that logic, everyone deserves to have a job, everyone deserves to feel like they're treated justly (let's take more money away from the rich so the poorer feel less down-trodden comparatively). I don't like where we're going, but we have to be honest about the ramifications and what we can do to make the best of the situation. We need to poke and prod the ideas being put forward, as well as the ideas in practice in Brittain, France, Canada, etc. etc.

Stuff White People Like

Yes! I have found a new favorite blog! It's a blog explaining to the world what white people like and why they like them. The best that I can tell, "White people" actually means "white, urban, liberal, yuppies who are (or more accurately: feel) morally superior to their white brethren because of a complex system of having minority friends, hating corporations, studying abroad, and having an arts degree". Sadly there's a few that hit a little too close to home for me:

• #23, Microbreweries
• #1 Coffee
• #9 Making You Feel Bad About Not Going Outside
  

There are so many though that I just can't get enough of:

• #82 Hating Corporations
• #41 Indie Music
• #62 Knowing What's Best for Poor People (hint* it definitely isn't their choices / lack of responsibility*
• #7 Diversity

Please, take a few minutes and check this site out, it is freakin' hilarious. I know it's stupidly ironic that I feel morally superior because I believe I'm more honest or more of a man than to feel like I need to bow to other's sensibilities of political correctness. Just humor me and make fun of them (them this week, means yuppie douchebags).

Undeniable Global Warming

To the Enlightened of This Age: Our Lord and Savior...



Am I really unbiased, or do I purposefully go out of my way to find these kinds of stories? I try to keep an open mind, but I am just way too skeptical that we have to drastically change our way of living because we're all going to boil to death.

The oil-shill that is NPR has had something to say recently about Global Warming. You know what they say? We don't fucking know what's going on with the Ocean's temperature. Scientists have expected the below surface temperatures to have increased the past 4 years, but they have not (if they're interpreting data right). What this means is that there's a whole bunch of heat energy that no one knows where it went. One of the suggestions in the article was that the excess heat could have been expelled into space. Whelp, I had better go buy a Prius so the entire Universe doesn't overheat...

Obama's Speech on Race

Yes, I will admit this guy has brains. I am certainly not an Obama supporter, but this guy is able to garner a large portion of popular support while not having to defend or talk about his voting record (easily on of the most liberal in the Senate). His talk of uniting (as his is incredibly partisan in voting) is not all that terribly truthful, but the way in which he chooses his words seem uncommonly heartfelt and straightforward.

Obama took the opportunity Tuesday at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia Pennsylvania to discuss his thoughts on race, what his connections to the Reverand Jeremiah Wright mean, whether he will agree to disavow his preacher's stances, and throw in some specifics on what he wants to do with the presidency.

(*full length clip: over 9 minutes long, transcript is here*)




I almost shit my pants when I realized that not only was he expounding on the views of many blacks in America, but he also brought their counterpoint forward as well. He spoke of his connections with the outspoken (and really freakin' crazy) Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and told why he couldn't throw his preacher under the bus (politically). I believe this speech Obama gave will easily be considered historic. I believe that Obama as a man is genuine, but with regards to where he wants to take this country, genuinely wrong. Read the transcript, or watch the speech for yourself, you will certainly gain something from it. My views on race and race relations have not changed one bit, but I am heartened by the fact that someone at the national level understands some of the most difficult nuance on this subject and is willing to talk to the nation about it.

I wish more people were willing to step up to a podium and lay bare their views like this. I wish also that people would judge those thoughts on their merit and not based on some arbitrary and harmful standards which political correctness forces on this debate.

Unbelievable Robots

I absolutely love how systems and controls can be used to make sci-fi looking stuff a reality.

This "robot-dog/horse" thing is incredible.



Here's a different implementation of this technology, but towards the exo-skeleton side. This is a military implementation. It's a bit hokey, but amazing none-the-less.




This Japanese prototype looks much more refined, but with less emphasis put on sheer strength.



This is a semi-autonomous RC plane which takes off and lands vertically on a wall. This is not an Osprey type plane with propellers which transition to helicopter like orientation. It is a regular single prop RC plane, with fully autonomous transitions from vertical take-off to level flight and back to vertical landing.



This stuff is awesome.

Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action:

I personally believe that Affirmative Action must be totally abolished and exposed for what it is through public discussion.

Let's get a few things out of the way right quick. Black is a term used in Canada and Brittain with no connotation of ill-will. African-American means as little to me as German-American means to everyone else. There is no color of lazy, morally corrupt leech that is any worse than any other color (except taupe, I fucking hate taupe).

In the past, American blacks have been given the shaft. Slavery, later being held to different standards constitutionally, and most recently Jim Crow laws all were dispicable excuses for a morally flawed system of consistent degredation and morally corrupt thinking. Other minorities have also faced severe discrimination, but for ease of discussion I will be using the moniker black. Within the discussion of Affirmative Action remember that women, hispanics, indians (woo-woo-woo, not dot), and even eskimoes reap benefits from this system.

Any system which includes/excludes based on the color of one's skin is inherently wrong. If we are striving for a world in which opportunity to succeed/fail is open to anyone we cannot continue an institution which by its very definition favors one to the detriment of another based solely on color.

One very pertinent argument is that having a level playing field is all well and good if everyone starts at the same place. Meaning, if there are 10 runners and each's lane is free from hurdles, yet one gets a 50 yard headstart, the race is still inherently unfair. Historical racism favored whites and held back blacks. If the world were perfectly equal (which I will argue is still not perfectly true) many argue that there will still be inherent inequality due to the head start that families of whites give their now quite well off children. I would be willing to partake in this line of thinking if every white family was successful and every black family were not. Seeing whereas this is not the case, I think I am quite justified in calling Affirmative Action "Bullshit".

For the sake of argument should the child of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Oprah, Colin Powell, or George Foreman deserve any extra advantage over white children who may have been born to dirt poor white trash? There are still instances of racial prejudice which persist in this world. I will not admit however that the color of one's skin truly holds any individual back in this day and age. Opportunities are absolutely boundless. If, America as a people, prefers to help those who were born to disadvantaged families, we must say that. Don't insult my intelligence by saying that every single black person (woman, hispanic, or Baldwin) automatically has the cards stacked against them, and there is no opportunity for success.

Statistically blacks are the most likely group to be born out of wedlock, in a single parent home, in poverty, or any combination thereof. This family situation is infinitely more detrimental to the child's future than the color of their skin is. In a similar environment a white child has no greater chance of making it in life.

Kids, parents, and society as a whole must be shown again and again how personal decisions can affect their (and their children's) lot in life. Statistically there is no socio-economic level in which hard work is not rewarded with an improving quality of life. Leading a mindless life, disregarding long term consequences, and persuing empty stimulation every second of one's life is equally destructive to those with or without large amount of melanin in one's skin.

If, as a country, we still believe it necessary to help those less well off, we can do so, but leave race the fuck out of it! There are few things I believe as ardently as this: work ethic and self improvement will trump a million times over nearly any stumbling blocks put in one's way.

Brittain is wrestling with this issue as we speak.

"Over The Top" Finally Gets It's Due

If there is one weakness that I have acquired in my years on this earth it's ridiculous action/macho movies. An arm-wrestling trucker teaching his estranged son the ways of the world most definitely fits into this category.

The cinematic wonder is best explained by I-Mockery.com I've seen this movie probably 6+ times and it just gets better and better.

My meager collectoin includes: Rocky I-VI, Robocop I-III, Rambo I-III, Predator, and Terminator I & II, as well as some others I'm not thinking of right now. Soon I'm going to branch off into buying Steven Seagal movies. He's a giant douchebag, but I'll be damned if I don't laugh at his serious face every freakin' time.