PAKISTAN FOR DUMMIES

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/resources/forum/posting.php
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:26 pm
Post subject: Pakistan for Dummies: Response to The Idiot's Guide to Pakistan
By Nicholas Schmidle

Posted March 2009 in Foreign Policy

Alternatives:

1) Nuke 'em, especially if some fragment of their huge and complicated lunatic fringe attacks us again. There has been no end of problems since they killed Gandhi. Nuke 'em.

2) Assuming we could find the right people to pay off, what would it cost to get them to turn over Osama BL?

3) It is a profound mistake to feel we must educate ourselves about the intricacies pf Pakistani society and politics. Our only strategic interest in Pakistan is to make sure their nuclear weapons do not fall into the wrong hands and that they do not sell any more of their nuclear expertise to others. Beyond that, we should watch with mild interest while they kill each other. They are not ready for the 20th Century, let alone the 21st, and are best left alone. People who want to make careers out of Pakistan should pay for it themselves.

4) The burden of proof is on anyone who thinks this course is simplistic. The truth is that Pakistan is a bottomless pit and there is no good reason to jump in.

:evil:

Shut Up and Pay

Nothing illustrates the abuse of power by the political class better than the refusal of AHIP, Blue Cross and the Senate Finance Committee to release the actual text of the recent AHIP/BC letter to Baucus/Grassley. It must be time for the Little People to mind their own business.

WELCOME TO THE GULAG!
Politically incorrect comment blocked by Kaiser Foundation comment page:
3/24/09 report re FQHCs in Massachusetts/
Kaiser/Georgetown
at
kaisernetwork.org: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Appalling ..... Patient volume and costs only. No definition of "comprehensive primary care"; no data on scope of services, needs of population served, quality of care or outcomes. One more propaganda piece for the HMO lobby. It would be embarrassing if this lobby had any capacity for shame.

START HERE

3.24.2009

© copyright asnet 2009©

The threes are budding again
and I am alive,
learning to sleep again
under the bluest of skies
flooded with sunshine.

Three days away from winter
the cold wind shakes my windows,
ices my street,
knifes through me
as I turn the corner toward home.

Time, time and again time:
I never dreamed to see this time,
and yet above me
there is only bluest,
determined buds
and sunshine.

TIME OUT FOR A DOSE OF REALITY

=========================================
Address at the 23rd Forum on Global Issues
Berlin, Germany
18 March 2009
The impact of global crises on health:
money, weather and microbes
Dr Margaret Chan
Director-General of the World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2009/financial_crisis_20090318/en/index.html

Mr Silberberg, Secretary of State, members of parliament, members of the scientific community, representatives of industry and civil society, colleagues in public health, colleagues from sister organizations of the UN, ladies and gentlemen,

First and foremost, I would like to thank the organizers for the kind invitation to address this audience.

The world is in a mess, and much of this mess is of our own making. Events such as the financial crisis and climate change are not quirks of the marketplace, or quirks of nature. They are not inevitable events in the up-and-down cycle of human history.

Instead, they are markers of massive failure in the international systems that govern the way nations and their populations interact. They are markers of failure at a time of unprecedented interdependence among societies, capital markets, economies, and trade.

In short, they are the result of bad policies. We have made this mess, and mistakes today are highly contagious.

As the economists tell us, the financial crisis is unprecedented because it comes at a time of radically increased interdependence. Its effects have moved rapidly from one country to another, and from one sector of the economy to others.

The contagion of our mistakes shows no mercy and makes no exceptions on the basis of fair play. Even countries that managed their economies well, did not purchase toxic assets, and did not take excessive financial risks will suffer the consequences. Likewise, the countries that have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions will be the first and hardest hit by climate change.

The financial crisis and climate change are not the only markers of bad policies and failed systems of governance. The gaps in health outcomes, seen within and between countries, are greater now than at any time in recent history. The difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest countries now exceeds 40 years. Globally, annual government expenditure on health varies from as little as US$ 20 per person to well over US$ 6000.

Medicine has never before possessed such a sophisticated arsenal of tools and interventions for curing disease and prolonging life. Yet each year, nearly 10 million young children and pregnant women have their lives cut short by largely preventable causes.

Something has gone wrong.
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END OF EXCERPT ... FULL TEXT AT LINK CITED ABOVE

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR SOME, BUT NOT ALL

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE FOR SOME, BUT NOT ALL
As long as the dead weight of inertial political correctness continues to propel us away from the idea of universality, and towards more talk about categorical eligibility (children, COBRA, racial and ethnic "disparities," the 20-29 age group etc. etc etc.) it is time to get a word in sledgewise about two more groups totaling 48 million Americans: diabetics and people with lung disease.

The American DIabetes Assoc. has issued an excellent, model statement that calls attention to the largest disease organization that was not at the White House summit ... was the American Lung Association not invited? Why? Or did it just not show up? Is COPD still the third highest cause of death in New York? Does Barack still smoke?

How does the Obama administration propose to address the needs of about 24 million Americans with respiratory diseases other than asthma who are constantly screwed by the greedy, narrow-minded and self-serving ALA, whose narrow agenda has not changed for half a century?

What do we do about so many large and small groups of people with common and rare health problems and no tax-exempt lobbyists participating in federal, state or local war dances? What are we going to do about the underinsured and unrepresented? Continue to ignore and neglect them while the organized special interests (e.g. the single payers et al) bash their way into the room while bellowing about Patient Centered Health Care? We who can't breathe well don't bellow well either. Does Barack still smoke?

Arthur Springer
Lay Advocate for People With Disabilities
as99@verizon.net
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American Diabetes Association Statement on the White House Health Reform Summit
updated 11:05 a.m. ET, Thurs., March. 5, 2009
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29529786/

ALEXANDRIA, VA - The American Diabetes Association is honored to participate in today's White House Health Reform Summit. The purpose of the Summit is to begin to identify ways to address reforming the health system. The Association was invited along with Members of Congress, Administration officials, and other patient advocacy, provider, consumer and insurance organizations.

There are nearly 24 million children and adults in the United States who have diabetes, and another 57 million people have pre-diabetes. Every day, Americans pay a horrific price to diabetes: 4,100 people are diagnosed with the disease, there are 230 amputations in people with diabetes, 120 people will enter end-stage kidney disease programs, and 55 people will go blind. During this same time period, there will be 613 deaths due to diabetes. As the diabetes epidemic grows greater by the minute, the economic and health consequences are too great not to act.

"We are pleased to see the President bringing together policymakers and key stakeholders to begin putting ideas on the table and to begin to discuss the difficult choices and decisions surrounding health reform," said Larry Hausner, Chief Executive Officer, American Diabetes Association, who will attend the Summit. He added, "President Obama's budget proposal of $634 billion dedicated to health reform is a crucial first step toward positive change in reforming the existing health system."
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The American Diabetes Association has offered a series of recommendations for comprehensive health reform to reduce the burden of diabetes and other chronic diseases by ensuring access to adequate and affordable health coverage, improving quality of care and health outcomes, eliminating disparities among ethnic and racial groups, and containing costs. Emphasis must be placed on prevention of chronic diseases and their complications through accessible, adequate, and affordable health care and through promotion of healthier lifestyles.

Mr. Hausner will be available for comment both prior to and following the Summit.

The American Diabetes Association is leading the fight against the deadly consequences of diabetes and fighting for those affected by diabetes. The Association funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; delivers services to hundreds of communities; provides objective and credible information; and gives voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes. Founded in 1940, our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. For more information, call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit www.diabetes.org. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.

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