Pet Project

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 062006
 

One of the many state laws that took effect on July 1 requires the Department of Human Services to study the affordability and efficacy of providing alternative medical treatment (acupuncture, herbal remedies, etc.) to people enrolled in Minnesota’s health care programs.  The original bill was sponsored by Jim Abeler, a Republican and a practicing chiropractor.  Abeler believes that subsidizing alternative treatments could save the state substantial amounts of health care dollars.  I find the strength of those claims suspect.  Based on my own admittedly anecdotal evidence, alternative remedies complement more traditional treatments rather than wholly replacing them. 

I’m not opposed to providing access to alternative treatments for those who couldn’t otherwise afford them.  However, I’m not sure that the state should view all alternative treatments as equal.  Some therapies, such as acupuncture, seem to yield more tangible results than other treatments like massage.  I’m also uncertain whether practitioners of alternative medicine would be willing to put up with the bureaucracy and regulation that is attendant whenever seeking payment from a public entity.  Of course, a legislatively mandated study is just as likely to collect dust on some bureaucrat’s shelf as it is to inspire further action, which means the expansion of health care benefits to include alternative treatments is anything but certain. 

Damn Internet, Get Off My Lawn!

 Uncategorized  1 Response »
Jul 052006
 

There are many intelligent, articulate, well-informed individuals serving in our nation’s Senate.  Alaska Senator Ted Stevens is not one of them.  When the Senator voted last week against a net neutrality amendment to a telecom bill, he offered his own layman’s explanation of how the Internet works, which included this choice line:
 
I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?
 
Read his full remarks here and be astounded at the sheer ignorance he displays.  I’d have more respect for him if he simply pulled out a thick wad of cash from his pocket and said, “This is the only reason I need to understand why net neutrality is a bad thing.” 
 
The days in which we are ruled by old, white, wealthy men cannot come to an end soon enough. 

Critic At Large: American Gospel

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 042006
 

American Gospel: God, The Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation is author Jon Meacham’s attempt to counter arguments of both the religious right and the secular left regarding the role of religion in the founding of the nation, as well as its place in the public sphere of American life.  Meacham’s core thesis is that America has a public religion that leaders use to inspire and unite the people, but the phrasings and rituals of public religion are steeped in a tradition of inclusiveness and generality.  While most of the country’s founders were Christian, they were not eager to make specific references to any religion in documents such as the Constitution or in the course of conducting the daily business of government.  The founders and their successors resisted several attempts to proclaim Christianity as the nation’s official religion.
 
Meacham, using excerpts from speeches and letters from the likes of Lincoln, John Adams, and Woodrow Wilson, demonstrates the frequency with which presidents have used biblical quotes and references in their official capacities, belying the notion that America is a purely secular state.  However, I had to hold my nose while reading the chapter on Reagan.  Meacham makes him out to be a skillful political moderate who edited his own speeches, while I would argue that he possessed an actor’s gift for delivering a good line while remaining woefully out of touch on a host of issues affecting average Americans. 
 
American Gospel is written in a breezy style and there are probably more substantive books on the character of America’s public religion.  But it does provide a useful starting point for objectively analyzing the founders’ views on religion without the hyperbole of the left and the right.

Football Hooligans

 Uncategorized  1 Response »
Jul 032006
 

How desperate are people for World Cup tickets?  So desperate that three poor, misguided souls posed as people with disabilities in order to purchase tickets in the reserved disability section.  Other fans became suspicious when the three Argentines leapt out of their newly purchased wheelchairs to cheer their team, prompting security to escort them out of the stadium. 
 
I hope these geniuses felt enough remorse to at least consider donating the wheelchairs to a worthy charity.  Unfortunately, there probably isn’t much sporting officials can do to prevent such abuse.  I can’t imagine the guy behind the ticket window saying, “Sir, I need to see your complete medical records for the last five years before I can sell you this ticket.”  The only solution is to mercilessly shame these poseurs in the press after they’re caught. 

Sunday Smut

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 022006
 

Encarna Conde, a Spanish woman with a disability, wrote a porn producer to complain about the lack of actors with disabilities in his productions.  According to this Guardian article, the producer invited her to appear in a film entitled “Breaking Barriers”.  The article is rather vague about the details of her appearance, although I don’t get the impression that Ms. Conde actually performed.  As others have noted, the press doesn’t seem too interested in using this story as a springboard for a deeper exploration of issues surrounding disability and sexuality.  Instead, it’s merely back-page fluff, a convenient excuse for putting the words “wheelchair” and “porn” in a single headline that might induce the reader’s eyes to linger on the page to notice the ad for Tesco’s below the fold.
 
Thanks to Wheelchair Dancer for pointing me to this story.  This is the first time I’ve visited her blog, but the quality of the writing is good enough to warrant regular reading. 

Life Of Leisure

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 012006
 

July’s my vacation month.  I’m at the start of a five-day weekend and I’ll have another week off near the end of the month.  I haven’t really had much time off since my trip to Europe last year and I feel like I’m due for a breather.  Financial considerations prevent me from taking any trips this time around, but I’m sure I can have myself a nice little urban holiday right here at home.  I’m hitting Superman Returns tonight with a couple friends and I’m going to try to enjoy the generally spectacular weather that is supposed to grace these parts for the next few days.  While there are a few errands requiring my attention, there will be much walking, reading, late-night movie-watching, and general loafing in the coming weeks. 

Four Letters; “Web-Based Journal”

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jun 302006
 

I subscribe to the Sunday New York Times, but I’ve never paid much attention to the crossword puzzle.  I didn’t grow up doing puzzles, partly because they strictly existed in pen-and-paper format and weren’t accessible to me without someone else’s assistance.  But after seeing Wordplay with a friend last night, I’m considering shelling out a few bucks for a subscription to the electronic NYT Crossword Section.  I have no delusions about being able to complete the Sunday puzzle, but I’m fairly confident that I could do a Monday or Tuesday puzzle without embarrassing myself.  And perhaps by perfecting my crossword skills, I will win favor with my lord and liege, Jon Stewart, a renowned puzzle freak. 
 
And speaking of the Times, here’s an op-ed piece from today’s edition by my friend Erik Lundegaard in which he responds to a somewhat trivial criticism of the new Superman film from the political right.   

Rule Of Law

 Uncategorized  1 Response »
Jun 292006
 

The only branch of federal government that seems capable of making reasoned, adult decisions as of late is the Supreme Court.  Today’s decision quashing the Administration’s efforts to hold special military tribunals for Gitmo detainees will be regarded as a landmark ruling for decades to come.  The Court’s opinion reaffirms that the President does not, even in the midst of this war without end, have the power to act as judge and jury.  I’d like to hope that this decision marks a watershed moment; the beginning of the end to this President’s arrogant power grab. 

Cinematic Kryptonite

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jun 282006
 

In preparation for Bryan Singer’s Superman film, I re-watched the 1978 version starring Christopher Reeve.  I  remember enjoying this film as a kid and I thought it might be interesting to see how it held up.  Yeesh.  The first half hour is okay, mostly because we get to watch Jor-El and General Zod glower at each other, but afterwards the movie descends quickly into uninspired camp.  Lex Luthor in a wig?  And what is up with that god-awful inner monologue (“Can you read my mind?”) delivered by Margot Kidder?  Her character is supposed to be a crackerjack reporter and she’s reciting dialog that sounds like it was written by a teenage girl with a crush on the guy who sits in front of her in geometry class.  Oh, and I’m pretty sure time doesn’t run backwards simply because Superman reverses the Earth’s orbit. 
 
I want those two hours of my life back. 

All Bits Are Created Equal

 Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jun 272006
 

Net neutrality, once an issue that was discussed primarily on tech sites like Slashdot or Ars Technica, is now receiving coverage in more mainstream news outlets.  For the uninitiated, the debate surrounding net neutrality (or “network neutrality”) centers on the following question: should the major telecom companies (Comcast, AT&T, etc.) be able to charge Internet companies like Google and Amazon a premium for access to their high-speed networks.  Advocates of net neutrality believe that government regulation is necessary to prevent the telcos from restricting access to content that isn’t on their “preferred” list.  They argue that a provider like Comcast could restrict customers’ access to a streaming video site that didn’t pay a “Preferred Access” fee to Comcast.
 
Opponents of net neutrality do not want to see any government regulation.  They argue that the telcos should be able to recoup the billion-dollar investments they made to increase the network’s capacity and that they should be able to charge bandwidth hogs like Yahoo to fund any future network upgrades. 
 
Both sides have been engaging in massive amounts of spin to win favor in the court of public opinion, which only serves to confuse the issue further.  Opponents of net neutrality neglect to mention that major internet companies already pay big bandwidth fees to the telcos.  And advocates of regulation probably overstate the likelihood that the telcos will restrict access to content and risk a consumer backlash.  On the whole, however, I’m in favor of at least some minimal regulation to ensure that all content is equally available to the public, regardless of the content’s source or the ownership of the network pipes carrying that content.  While I don’t think the Internet is likely to become a proprietary network, most telcos are quasi-monopolies in their respective geographic regions, which requires society to exercise a higher degree of vigilance in this sector of the marketplace. 

 Older Entries  Newer Entries