It isn't that I'm not interested in socialized health care. It is that I'm not the right temperament to deal with the minutae of medicaid administration. I'm developing a serious acronym allergy. States as the labaratories of democracy isn't quite right. Labaratory suggests an order and professionalism which does not exist in state government. Also control, and seperation. And people keeping track of what is going on. This is why incremental reforms to healthcare, like what Dean was suggesting, seem so wrong-headed to me. They just increase the chaos. The chaos, the sheer number of rules, exemptions, carve-outs and waivers is staggering. No one knows what is going on, they just try to minimize the horrible injustices and blatent cheats though minor tweaks, which have been piling up for 40 years. It needs to be swept away and started fresh. The problem politically is horror stories are inevitable. At the moment, they don't belong to anyone. But if there are major reforms, all the horror stories will belong to the reformer.
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(2)
02:44:18 PM,
Thursday 15 April 2004
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Sir Humphrey: There are four words you have to work into a proposal if you want a Minister to accept it.
Sir Frank: Quick, simple, popular, cheap. And equally there are four words to be included in a proposal if you want it thrown out.
Sir Humphrey: Complicated, lengthy, expensive, controversial. And if you want to be really sure that the Minister doesn't accept it you must say the decision is courageous.
Bernard: And that's worse than controversial?
Sir Humphrey: (laughs) Controversial only means this will lose you votes, courageous means this will lose you the election.
--Yes, Minister
"These are historic and courageous actions," Bush said this afternoon, sharing a stage at the White House with a beaming Sharon. "If all parties choose to embrace this moment they can open the door to progress and put an end to one of the world's longest-running conflicts."
--Washington Post
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(2)
03:49:14 PM,
Wednesday 14 April 2004
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"Digestion then occurs in 12 distinctive egg-shaped anaerobic digesters, each 90 feet in diameter and approximately 130 feet tall." An explanation of the building below.
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(2)
09:46:07 AM,
Sunday 11 April 2004
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Common Eider, digiscoped. I still can't reliably focus.
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09:45:18 PM,
Saturday 10 April 2004
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(1)
09:44:43 PM,
Saturday 10 April 2004
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(1)
09:43:57 PM,
Saturday 10 April 2004
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09:43:06 PM,
Saturday 10 April 2004
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(1)
09:42:04 PM,
Saturday 10 April 2004
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This was before his eyes changed. We think he was about 5 months at this point. He'd already had one owner who'd given him up because he was too belligerent.
Among the treasures found among the salvaged zip disks: PF's juvenilia, kitten pictures, and the source code for Sheepdog. Unfortunately, no resume from the past 4 years. I suppose I'll just have to keep my job. I wrote a few paragraphs about it once already in life. I can't possibly do it again.
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(1)
04:59:50 PM,
Friday 9 April 2004
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Are there any campgrounds convenient to croquet?
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(3)
03:15:53 PM,
Friday 9 April 2004
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There's a microcar museum in Georgia
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02:06:52 PM,
Friday 9 April 2004
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More on smart and its plans for the US market, from Edmunds. I'm still struggling with the idea of a swatch SUV.
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01:29:55 PM,
Friday 9 April 2004
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site & script courtesy of Moss