I just saw Man on Fire for the first time and loved it! Usually, I don't care for violent movies, but I found this one deeply satisfying to that dark side of me that likes revenge. Of course the fact that Denzel Washington was in practically every scene didn't hurt. He was at his Denzelian best as the cool, ruthless assassin.
Speaking of violence, the Philadelphia Eagles have signed Michael Vick, and PETA as well as many others are outraged. I certainly don't approve of Vick's treatment of his dogs, but I save my outrage for those many occasions when human beings are treated inhumanely. For example in cases of domestic violence when law enforcement officers, up to and including the U.S. Supreme Court, refuse to enforce restraining orders against men who often wind up killing or maiming women and children. I am also outraged that this country's leaders in the previous administration tortured and abused "enemy combatants" as if they were dogs. Perhaps I missed it, but I don't recall witnessing the kind of public and media outcry about that as about Vick.
SLAVERY AND HEALTH CARE
I've just finished reading a book entitled A Slave No More. It's the stories of two men who stopped accepting being enslaved during the Civil War, before President Lincoln had issued his Emancipation Proclamation. In reading once again about the dilemma Lincoln faced, it reminded me of the current situation with President Obama and his health care reform. Lincoln was caught between Southerners who didn't want blacks to be free, and Northerners who didn't care if they were free or not, so long as they didn't come up North. It recalls that old African American folk saying: "In the South they don't care how close you get so long as you don't get too high. In the North, they don't care how high you get, so long as you don't get too close."
Once again, the U.S. President is faced with making the best decision for the country in the face of an entrenched opposition whose interests are selfish. Justice prevailed in Lincoln's time, although he paid the ultimate price for that victory. And justice will prevail this time as well without Obama having to die for it. However, we must continue the fight because the opposition is just as determined to preserve their power and privilege today as the slaveholders were.
COMPROMISE
Without the Left and the Right, how would we know where the middle is?
Showing posts with label universal health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label universal health care. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
ANOTHER REASON FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE
I have just read an article in Time magazine about infant mortality in the U.S. Despite our preeminence as a technologically advanced world power, our infant mortality rate in 2005 was ranked #30 among industrialized nations, below Singapore, Japan, Germany, France, and Cuba, among others. The U.S. rate has dropped since 1960 when we were #12. Is it possible that this decline is in any way related to the escalation in the cost of health care? Incidentally, many of the countries with better infant mortality rates also have universal health care.
What was amazing about this article is that until recently the focus of the research into the causes of infant mortality had been on the babies rather than on the women giving birth. Considering that human babies grow inside the bodies of their mothers, it is astonishing that no one thought that the health of the mother would affect the health of their babies, and not just in the nine months prior to birth.
When the researchers tried a small experiment providing free health care to prospective mothers for two years prior to their pregnancies, they got impressive and positive results. Another perspective served up different and helpful results.
This same article reports that the infant mortality rate for blacks in the U.S. is more than twice the rate for whites and Hispanics, including the fact that "well-educated blacks have higher preterm-birth rates than poorly educated whites--some researchers think there could be greater stress among blacks at all social strata...."
No kidding!
Fortunately, as the researchers look at the problem from different perspectives, they are learning that, like most human issues, the causes are many and complex and not easily separated into neat social categories or sound bites. However, one thing is clear, you cannot expect to have healthy babies without healthy mothers, and that requires ongoing health care, not just during the period of pregnancy.
What was amazing about this article is that until recently the focus of the research into the causes of infant mortality had been on the babies rather than on the women giving birth. Considering that human babies grow inside the bodies of their mothers, it is astonishing that no one thought that the health of the mother would affect the health of their babies, and not just in the nine months prior to birth.
When the researchers tried a small experiment providing free health care to prospective mothers for two years prior to their pregnancies, they got impressive and positive results. Another perspective served up different and helpful results.
This same article reports that the infant mortality rate for blacks in the U.S. is more than twice the rate for whites and Hispanics, including the fact that "well-educated blacks have higher preterm-birth rates than poorly educated whites--some researchers think there could be greater stress among blacks at all social strata...."
No kidding!
Fortunately, as the researchers look at the problem from different perspectives, they are learning that, like most human issues, the causes are many and complex and not easily separated into neat social categories or sound bites. However, one thing is clear, you cannot expect to have healthy babies without healthy mothers, and that requires ongoing health care, not just during the period of pregnancy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)