The latest from The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com
- Alison Rose Levy: Day of Reckoning in Health Care
- Outcry Over Asian Censorship Of Word "Gay" During Oscars
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- Is Obama Hitler Or The Antichrist? Those Are The Only Two Options (VIDEO)
- Lost Cellphone? Carriers Have A Solution
- Pharmaceutical Mergers Considered
- Lane Hudson: United Pilot Insults Sully
- Mayor Bloomberg's Home Not Large Enough, Buys Out The Neighbors
- Detroit Bailout Support Wanes, Reversal From December
- Aaron Zelinsky: Obama's Rhetorical Inspirations: Presidents, Poets, and Hobbits
| Alison Rose Levy: Day of Reckoning in Health Care | Top |
| The unspoken corollary of the old adage, "If it's not broke, don't fix it.." is: "If it is broke, we better fix it.." Broken and broke. That's how a growing number of people--including President Obama--see the current health care system and what it does to ordinary citizens. When illness strikes unannounced, it wreaks both health and economic havoc. "Each year, 1.5 million Americans lose their homes due to health care costs," President Obama said in last night's address, asserting that in the current economic crisis, we can't afford a health model and infracture that deliver ever-escalating costs, that profit the few, and devastate the many. As health care costs rises, the President chided Congress that "we delay reform, we delay reform...prizing short term gains prized over long term prosperity, but now the day of reckoning has arrived." On Monday, in a hearing held before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Senator Barbara Mikulsi of Maryland, bluntly told the gathering, "Talking about health care and changes in it is not purely about giving more people access to the existing health care system." At her invitation, a number of distinguished integrative physicians and health experts spoke. Calling for the establishment of a White House Office of Health and Wellness, to define "a vision in which service to all Americans is paramount," Dr. James Gordon, MD, director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, proposed that we "remove the baleful influence of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies on healthcare quality and its cost, and make industry serve, rather than exploit, Americans with health needs." "Health and illness are a continuum. It's unreasonable to wait until disease reaches an advanced diagnostic threshold, and then provide late-stage interventions," said Wayne Jonas, MD, President of the Samueli Institute. "We must pursue prevention, health promotion, chronic disease management and healing, a new vision of health and disease based on self-care and lifestyle management." "Nutrition, exercise, stress management, and mind-body approaches (are) the true primary care (to be) used wherever possible prior to more side-effect burdened approaches like surgery and drugs," Gordon agreed. At last week's Integrative Health Symposium held in New York City, Dr. Jeffrey Bland, PhD, told me that, "We have to undergo a melt (of our health system) in order to produce a new alloy with a different composition and structure (emphasizing) proactive health care rather than reactive health care. We have to change our way of thinking about health and ask the big audacious questions." In an opinion piece published in yesterday's Arizona Republic, Dr. Andrew Weil and Professor Roy proposed that, "A sustainable health-care system demands the structure of a stable pyramid, with a broad base of educated, active citizens.... Above that base a smaller set of health coaches, then primary care physicians - (all) trained integratively. Then, at the tip, specialists. The current unstable medical situation has the pyramid balancing on its tip with no role for citizen education and responsibility. " Woodson C. Merrell, MD, Director of Integrative Medicine, at New York's Continuum Center for Health & Healing urges government to act. "Just as we needed this economic stimulus bill, we need to make rapid changes in health care now." Merrell warned, "The health care system is starting to crumble. As more people lose health insurance, emergency rooms will be completely overburdened. The system is going to devolve very quickly. Fortunately, the Health Care Summit comes at a perfect time." The Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public, a three day assembly of governmental leaders, doctors, scientists, and policy experts begins today in Washington, D.C. Convened by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (with support by the Bravewell Collaborative) this ground-breaking gathering aims to advance the science, understanding, and progress of integrative medicine and explore how this approach can help to solving the nation's health care crisis. More info at: http://www.iom.edu/?ID=52555) According to Bravewell President Christy Mack, "This is the beginning of the end of medicine as we know it." After last night's speech, the advocates of a sea change in health care have a new champion. Promising to devote unprecedented resources to prevention in health care, President Obama assured Americans that "Health care reform cannot wait, must not wait, and will not wait another year." I'll be reporting on this week's events and providing ongoing coverage of health care via the free Health Outlook at www.health-journalist.com | |
| Outcry Over Asian Censorship Of Word "Gay" During Oscars | Top |
| KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Gay Asians voiced indignation Wednesday after television broadcasts of the Academy Awards in their region censored the words "gay" and "lesbian" in speeches that called for equal rights for homosexuals. The speeches by actor Sean Penn and writer Dustin Lance Black _ who won Oscars for their work in "Milk" _ were shown in full during live broadcasts of the Oscars that were screened across Asia on Monday morning. But viewers who caught recorded telecasts in the evening on STAR, an Asian satellite TV service that says it reaches more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries, noticed that the sound was removed whenever both men mentioned "gay" or "lesbian." "As a gay man, I am truly offended," Pang Khee Teik, a prominent Malaysian arts commentator, wrote in a letter sent out to several media organizations. "Stop censoring the words that describe who I am." Pang said the move "sent a message ... that gays and lesbians are still shameful things to be censored from the public's ears." Users of Internet forums in Singapore and India also complained about the censored speeches. Jannie Poon, STAR's Hong Kong-based spokeswoman, stressed that the company had no intention of upsetting any viewers, but said it has "a responsibility to take the sensitivities and guidelines of all our markets into consideration." Poon said she was not immediately aware that the speeches had been censored, but noted that STAR's preliminary ratings for the Oscar broadcasts indicated "record-breaking" audiences, especially in India and Taiwan. Viewers first noticed that the words were silenced when Black offered a tribute to slain American gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk while accepting the Oscar for best original screenplay for "Milk." "If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight ... that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you," Black said. Penn, who was named best actor for playing Milk, commented in his speech on California's recent vote to ban gay marriage. "For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it's a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that support," Penn said. More on The Oscars | |
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| Is Obama Hitler Or The Antichrist? Those Are The Only Two Options (VIDEO) | Top |
| The Daily Show's Jason Jones took a hilarious and frightening look at two religious leaders who think President Obama is either Hitler or the Anti-Christ. Reverend Daniel W. Blair, a Baptist minister whose likes include, "seeing people snatched from the fire of eternal damnation and transformed by the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," thinks Obama is "The Beast" who will usher in the end times. Pastor James David Manning, on the other hand, thinks the President is Hitler. (And also a bisexual...or bicycle.) The key part of the the segment, though, is the main stream media's coverage of these men and their "theories." Sean Hannity even invited Manning on his show to discuss his Hitler comparison. Luckily Jones deflates both men skillfully with only a couple references to Ashton Kutcher, "The Usual Suspects," and "Howdie Do It." WATCH: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c Unusual Suspect Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things With Demetri Martin Funny Political News Joke of the Day More on Daily Show | |
| Lost Cellphone? Carriers Have A Solution | Top |
| By the time you've left your cellphone in a taxi or dropped it into a pot of soup, it's too late. All those phone numbers you had at your finger tips -- your best friend, your boss, your mom -- are gone. (Well, maybe you'll remember Mom's.) | |
| Pharmaceutical Mergers Considered | Top |
| Sports fans have fantasy baseball. Drug industry analysts have fantasy mergers. In the pharmaceutical version of the game, analysts use balance sheets to project how big-league drug companies could acquire more nimble rivals. The goal is to enhance product rosters, while reducing costs by shedding redundant staff and operations. | |
| Lane Hudson: United Pilot Insults Sully | Top |
| I just flew on United Airlines Flight 918 from Dulles to Heathrow. Once we reached cruising altitude, the pilot interrupted the display of airspeed, altitude, and temperature on the backs of the seat in front of passengers. What I expected to be the usual welcome from the Captain turned out to be an incredible insult to his own comrade who is by all accounts a national hero. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are on the left side of the plane, you will see a spectacular view of New York City and US Airways' new runway, the Hudson River." Cute, right? I don't think so. Neither did the World Airways' flight attendant sitting across the aisle from me. Nor did her colleague. They are members of the Teamsters and flabbergasted at the insult this pilot was giving to Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger and crew, whose superb training was able to turn a complete engine failure into a flawlessly executed emergency landing that yielded no fatalities and relatively few injuries. It's hardly a story that deserves ridicule. We're not exactly talking about Britney's hours long marriage or Joaquin Phoenix's appearance on Letterman. Let's also not forget that just yesterday, a Congressional panel gave this crew a standing ovation for their work. What we're talking about is pure grit. The kind of level-headedness that saves lives and becomes an example for others to learn from. We're talking about 'Sully', the man that has inspired Facebook Groups, namesake cocktails, keys to cities, and the admiration of an inspired nation. Judging from the decent job on take-off and landing, I'm pretty sure the captain of UAL Flight 918 isn't drunk. So, I am compelled to think he's insensitive, tone deaf, and consumed with some kind of unimportant rivalry with US Airways. So high school.... I also assume that said captain is a member of a union, probably ALPA, the Air Line Pilots Association. Let's not forget that every member of Sully's crew was union and have uniformly credited their union membership for the extensive training they received that provided them with the instinct and knowledge to execute that flawless emergency landing. The consensus between the folks that around me that reacted to this insult to Sully is that our United Airline Captain doesn't owe an apology only to Captain Sully and his crew, but also to his union and the unions of all airline professionals. What a jerk. Anybody for a direct line to somebody at United Airlines with a little more intelligence than this guy? | |
| Mayor Bloomberg's Home Not Large Enough, Buys Out The Neighbors | Top |
| Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's town house at 17 East 79th Street is the epitome of Upper East Side elegance: five stories of flawless Beaux-Arts limestone with 7,500 square feet of exquisite living space, all within steps of Central Park. But for the mayor, it seems, the house has been a bit cramped. More on Real Estate | |
| Detroit Bailout Support Wanes, Reversal From December | Top |
| Just one-fourth of Americans think the government should continue lending money to Detroit automakers, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, even though the manufacturers say they'll go out of business without federal help That's a huge, and fast, change of heart. In December, before the government approved emergency auto loans, the poll found that 61% favored some kind of government help. More on Auto Bailout | |
| Aaron Zelinsky: Obama's Rhetorical Inspirations: Presidents, Poets, and Hobbits | Top |
| President Obama's speech to Congress stood on the shoulders of prophets, playwrights, and hobbits. From J.F.K. to an Australian Pop Band, here are the ten sources behind the most memorable lines of Obama's recent address: 1) "Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States: I've come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and women in this great chamber, but to speak frankly and directly to the men and women who sent us here." This rhythmic lead in echoes the one the most famous openers of all time: Mark Antony's monologue in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar : "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." After mimicking Antony's direct address (a rhetorical device called apostrophe), Obama inverts the Shakespearean phrasing, placing the negation ("I've come here not") at the beginning of the sentence. 2) "Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here." While Obama's inaugural invoked the Sermon on the Mount, this speech draws to a darker and more foreboding biblical image. This phrase comes from the Book of Isaiah, 2:12: "For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning." The ancient Hebrew does not contain a reference to "reckoning" but speaks only of a "Day to God." No matter what text you use, it's clear what this signals: Serious crunch time. 3) "As we stand at this crossroads of history, the eyes of all people in all nations are once again upon us - watching to see what we do with this moment; waiting for us to lead." This line quotes John F. Kennedy. If Obama's inaugural address focused on Washington, this speech channels Kennedy, looking forward, cautiously, hopefully, and optimistically, with firm resolve in the character of America. Kennedy is referenced three times in the speech. This line echoes Kennedy's 1960 speech to the Los Angeles NAACP, when he declared "the eyes of that world are upon us." In 1961, he echoed these lines again at the Massachusetts State House: "Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us." Kennedy himself owed the line to the seventeenth century American preacher John Winthrop, who famously declared "We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us." 4) "The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our reach." Here, the antecedent exceeds its progeny. William Jennings Bryan put it more succinctly in his 1900 Baltimore speech: "The nation's destiny is what the nation makes it." 5) "And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world." This is the second Kennedy reference of the speech, echoing a term Kennedy coined in his inaugural address: "Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are--but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation." An ambitious crash program for sustainable and independent fuel sources has already been dubbed the "energy moon shot" by some in the administration and press. 6) "But in my life, I have also learned that hope is found in unlikely places; that inspiration often comes not from those with the most power or celebrity, but from the dreams and aspirations of Americans who are anything but ordinary." Fear not, Hobbit-fans. You have not been left out of the speech! J. R. R. Tolkien is this phrase's progenitor. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gildor Inglorion declares that, "Courage is found in unlikely places." 7) "And to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations, I ask this Congress to send me the bipartisan legislation that bears the name of Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country - Senator Edward Kennedy." The third Kennedy reference of the night, this one a double. Obama again alludes to John F. Kennedy's famous inaugural "[A]sk not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" to describe Senator Kennedy. 8) "The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care; the schools that aren't preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit." Time founder Henry Luce 1941 coined the term "American Century" in a February 1941 editorial in Life Magazine (which he also founded). Notably, the article called for the United States to take its place as the world leader and transform the international system by spreading "American principles." 9) "As we meet here tonight, our men and women in uniform stand watch abroad and more are readying to deploy. To each and every one of them, and to the families who bear the quiet burden of their absence, Americans are united in sending one message: we honor your service, we are inspired by your sacrifice, and you have our unyielding support." In the most oddball of the contributions of the speech, this line originates from the Australian pop band The Guild League on their album, Inner North: "The shirtless sky, the burning bricks. The quiet burden of your absence." I'll put down money that this song is on the Ipod of Obama's twenty-seven year old speechwriter, John Favreau. 10) "And if we do - if we come together and lift this nation from the depths of this crisis; if we put our people back to work and restart the engine of our prosperity; if we confront without fear the challenges of our time and summon that enduring spirit of an America that does not quit, then someday years from now our children can tell their children that this was the time when we performed, in the words that are carved into this very chamber, 'something worthy to be remembered.'" This line quotes Daniel Webster's Bunker Hill Monument speech of 1825: "Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered." More on Barack Obama | |
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