Breaking Away?

 Politics  No Responses »
Sep 102012
 

I didn’t give the Democratic National Convention much thought when it began last week. A three-day infomercial for Obama and the Democrats didn’t seem any more likely to budge the polls than the Republicans’ snoozer of a convention. But that was before the speeches from Michelle Obama, The Bill, and the President. Now, it looks as if the convention produced a real bounce for Obama. Nate Silver, my go-to guy for polling analysis, now gives Obama an 80% chance of winning reelection. The standard caveats still apply: bounces can diminish and news events or unforced errors could flip the numbers. But for the moment, it seems that voters aren’t following Mitt’s playbook of blaming the President for the fragile economy.

The President’s campaign team must be pleased with their position with less than two months to go before Election Day. Meanwhile, a few Romney advisors must be putting out feelers for consulting gigs.

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Medicaid And The Election

 Health Care, Politics, Wonkery  No Responses »
Sep 072012
 

It warms my wonkish heart to see the media give more attention to Medicaid as a campaign issue. Bill Clinton considered the topic important enough to include in his speech on Wednesday evening. The complexity of our publicly financed health care system doesn’t lend itself to concise explanations, but Democrats need to start pointing out that plenty of middle-class families rely on Medicaid to care for elderly and disabled relatives. And they need to point out how Republican plans to slash Medicaid spending would almost certainly shift more of the financial burden of providing such care to families. Obama’s DNC speech acknowledged this threat only in passing. Here’s hoping he follows Clinton’s lead and hits the issue hard during the debates.

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Smashing Success

 Disability  No Responses »
Sep 052012
 

Nicole Gelinas at City Journal compliments the British press for its in-depth coverage of the Paralympics while excoriating NBC for assuming that Americans aren’t interested in the event. It does seem that the London Paralympics are receiving great press from those media outlets bothering to cover them and the hometown crowd seems genuinely interested in the games. But I wonder if that’s a function of holding the Paralympics in a developed nation with a fairly vocal disability rights movement and laws enshrining accessibility and inclusion. I hope the Paralympics are as successful when they are held in Sochi and Rio, but I’m not sure it’s fair to expect those countries to pour the same resources into them that the U.K. clearly has.

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Are We There Yet?

 Disability, Personal  No Responses »
Sep 042012
 

I am one spoiled cripple. I was reminded of this again today when I had to take the local paratransit service to and from work. What’s normally a twenty-minute commute in my own van became a sixty or ninety-minute journey into aggravation. I respect anyone who uses the service on a daily basis; it requires patience and fortitude. I’ll have my van back in a few days, but I get ulcers just thinking about having to depend on paratransit on a daily basis.

Like I said, spoiled cripple here.

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Whovian

 Geeking Out, Pop Culture  No Responses »
Aug 312012
 

Enjoy the long weekend. I’ll likely be plopping myself in front of the telly tomorrow evening to catch the Dr. Who season premiere. In past years, I’ve waited for the DVD sets, but the hype for the show has reached such heights that avoiding spoilers will be difficult. I’m hoping for plenty of Daleks and at least a couple scenes featuring Karen Gillan in a short skirt.

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Teach Your Children Well

 Science  2 Responses »
Aug 302012
 

Bill Nye, Science Guy, has a message for parents who ascribe to creationism. You are free to believe what you want, but don’t inflict your beliefs on your  children. According to Nye, such indoctrination will only hinder kids’ capacity to learn science and compete for the increasing number of science-based jobs that are sure to be part of our future economy. Nye’s comments aren’t going to win many admirers among conservatives and fundamentalists, but they reflect an interesting tactic: think of the children!

Here’s Nye’s video message. The bow tie adds that extra bit of gravitas.

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Healthy Mouths, Healthy People

 Health Care, Wonkery  No Responses »
Aug 292012
 

The Times examines how the state Medicaid budget cuts of the last few years are restricting access to dental care for many low-income adults. The inability to obtain preventive care results in more emergency room visits for tooth pain and other dental issues, which E.R.s are ill-equipped to treat. Minnesota is among the states that have cut dental coverage for adults on Medicaid, but it has also begun licensing dental therapists, mid-level professionals who can perform many procedures that dentists traditionally perform. As you might imagine, dentists are not keen on the idea.

Medicaid coverage of dental services may seem like an easily pared optional service, but the importance of good oral health cannot be understated. Gum disease has been linked to diabetes and stroke. Poor dental health can also complicate efforts to obtain employment. Let’s hope states can eventually restore some of these services.

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Karen Allen Has A Ginormous Head!

 Movies  No Responses »
Aug 282012
 

I’m a little late linking to this news that Raiders of the Lost Ark is being released in IMAX format in a couple weeks. I have vague memories of my mom taking me to see it when it was released way back in 1981, but it will be fun to experience it again in a theater with other people. I’m also curious to see how it looks on a much larger screen. Will the asps look even more threatening? Will that German guy in the dark suit look even pastier?

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