23 March 2011
PPAC Act and Everyone’s Heart
Senator Ron Johnson (R, Wisc) wrote his OpEd article in the March 23, 2011 Wall Street Journal as the past beneficiary of a “run-of-the-mill” health care insurance plan that was fortunately available to his daughter through an employer. Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible even for such a “run-of-the-mill” insurance plan. One of the benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be our nation’s ability to provide such care to even the unemployed, not to mention those who don’t work at jobs where even “run-of-the-mill” plans are provided.
Of course, the government will administer certain aspects of the Act’s coverage. If as a wealthy and socially conscious community Americans choose to make adequate healthcare available to all of our fellow citizens, whatever organization we authorize to administer it will be part of our “government.” The apparatus for running services we choose to have in common is not evil. Any intelligent society will operate its common services through an efficient administration. One of the chief responsibilities of our elected representatives, like Senator Johnson, is to assure that that administration is indeed efficient and effective. Come on, Senator Johnson, do your job!
Senator Ron Johnson (R, Wisc) wrote his OpEd article in the March 23, 2011 Wall Street Journal as the past beneficiary of a “run-of-the-mill” health care insurance plan that was fortunately available to his daughter through an employer. Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible even for such a “run-of-the-mill” insurance plan. One of the benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be our nation’s ability to provide such care to even the unemployed, not to mention those who don’t work at jobs where even “run-of-the-mill” plans are provided.
Of course, the government will administer certain aspects of the Act’s coverage. If as a wealthy and socially conscious community Americans choose to make adequate healthcare available to all of our fellow citizens, whatever organization we authorize to administer it will be part of our “government.” The apparatus for running services we choose to have in common is not evil. Any intelligent society will operate its common services through an efficient administration. One of the chief responsibilities of our elected representatives, like Senator Johnson, is to assure that that administration is indeed efficient and effective. Come on, Senator Johnson, do your job!
14 March 2011
Deleting System Tool
It was like sitting in the dentist’s chair for a well-executed root canal. My computer had been infected by a virus, which goes by the name of the spy ware software it tries to sell you, “System Tool.” On good advice, I contacted Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials) and soon found myself talking to a young lady, Kit, in the Philippines.
After taking control of my computer with MS Easy Assist, Kit patiently scanned all the files on my computer deleting all the “Junk Files” and, apparently, whatever was causing my screen to be overcome with windows that professed to find 38 infected files. It then offered to clean them up with a “System Tool” that I could buy for a charge of $59.99. My computer was prevented from using any of the “infected” program files, showing small captions that continually popped up at the bottom of my screen.
Need I say more? At the end of my 2 ½ hour session with Kit, including the installation of MS Security Essentials on my desktop, the virus appears to have been eradicated. Her excavation of my hard drive was long, but painless—as if Novocaine had been skillfully administered and the drilling was accurate and effective. Upon leaving my chair in front of the computer I anticipated the kind of relief that has often made oral surgery a welcome ordeal.
It was like sitting in the dentist’s chair for a well-executed root canal. My computer had been infected by a virus, which goes by the name of the spy ware software it tries to sell you, “System Tool.” On good advice, I contacted Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials) and soon found myself talking to a young lady, Kit, in the Philippines.
After taking control of my computer with MS Easy Assist, Kit patiently scanned all the files on my computer deleting all the “Junk Files” and, apparently, whatever was causing my screen to be overcome with windows that professed to find 38 infected files. It then offered to clean them up with a “System Tool” that I could buy for a charge of $59.99. My computer was prevented from using any of the “infected” program files, showing small captions that continually popped up at the bottom of my screen.
Need I say more? At the end of my 2 ½ hour session with Kit, including the installation of MS Security Essentials on my desktop, the virus appears to have been eradicated. Her excavation of my hard drive was long, but painless—as if Novocaine had been skillfully administered and the drilling was accurate and effective. Upon leaving my chair in front of the computer I anticipated the kind of relief that has often made oral surgery a welcome ordeal.
06 March 2011
Meritocratic Authoritarianism
David Brooks’ March 4, 2011 NYT article criticizing the Samuel P. Huntington’s thesis in Clash of Civilizations that Islamic societies are incompatible with liberal democracy has a valid point as far as it goes. As it turns out, however, it's much easier, with social media, to overthrow a regime than to replace one. Let's see what the Egyptians and Tunisians come up with
In Egypt, the military is a pretty representative organization in which the smartest individuals rise to the top. They have never shied from expanding their activities beyond fighting wars. My bet there is that the result of recent events will be an authoritarian military directorate. In any case, it won't be a digital Jeffersonian democracy.
David Brooks’ March 4, 2011 NYT article criticizing the Samuel P. Huntington’s thesis in Clash of Civilizations that Islamic societies are incompatible with liberal democracy has a valid point as far as it goes. As it turns out, however, it's much easier, with social media, to overthrow a regime than to replace one. Let's see what the Egyptians and Tunisians come up with
In Egypt, the military is a pretty representative organization in which the smartest individuals rise to the top. They have never shied from expanding their activities beyond fighting wars. My bet there is that the result of recent events will be an authoritarian military directorate. In any case, it won't be a digital Jeffersonian democracy.
