Links

• The headline, with my emphasis, is
  

  Bagged salad safety: Rising threat of food-borne illness lurks in convenient packages of leafy greens. Leafy greens are the riskiest food regulated by the FDA, researchers for nonprofit center say.

  That’s contradicted by the second paragraph of the article, “Though beef and poultry are a more frequent source of food-related outbreaks than produce, the number of outbreaks tied to lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens, whether fresh-cut or whole, has been rising over the last two decades, according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.”

• Judge expunges Mel Gibson’s drunk-driving conviction Never mind.
• Opting Out of Medicare? “The response of the Obama Administration to this lawsuit is revealing about its principles, as opposed to its rhetoric.”
• Placebos work better than they used to, but for some things see a doctor: What To Do If You Get Sick: 2009 H1N1 and Seasonal Flu

A man must eat

Free-market liberals

Grandmothers and health care

It’s a misconception that Democrats oppose a free market in health care. In fact, they’ve been amazingly innovative.

End-of-life care eats up a huge slice of spending but we can’t change that, except by, um, counseling. So what’s to become of us? Well, Barrack Obama cut Grandma’s social security (hey, that’s what they would have said about George Bush). But that’s because the cost of living has gone down. So thanks to Barrack Obama (See? It all works out) Grandma’s nominal dollars will buy more Big Macs.

Especially in Chicago, but that’s just a coincidence.

Two all-beef patties…

I mean, put it all together. Social Security is in trouble, and Medicare is almost bankrupt. Eating a Big Mac improves your quality of life. At the same time, science (recall how Bush hated science) teaches us (No Child Left Behind) that a diet high in fat is associated with decreased longevity. So the real-dollar price of Big Macs goes down, the price old folks pay for their Statins goes up, and the problem is solved — Older Americas get a shorter and higher-quality life, Medicare is saved, and the economy gets a stimulus.

The Democrats took end-of-life counseling out of the health care bill because public-spirited corporations stepped up and met that need, spreading the word through their marketing departments.

Section 1233 – Advance care planning consultation

Not totally innocuous

It’s naive to think Washington is going to pay the bills, but not have a say in how the money is spent. In the Democrats’ health care bill,

“Section 1233 goes beyond facilitating doctor input to preferring it. Indeed, the measure would have an interested party — the government — recruit doctors to sell the elderly on living wills, hospice care and their associated providers, professions and organizations. You don’t have to be a right-wing wacko to question that approach.” — The House Bill Skews End-of-Life Counsel, by Charles Lane

Those who wrote the bill have decided spending too much in the last years of life is a poor use of resources. Maybe they’re right, though if they can’t tell when life begins I don’t entirely trust their judgment. In any case, they shouldn’t push it through without full discussion.

Good government

That government is best which governs least

For some time now I’ve thought the worst government was one-party rule – worst because it would be efficient. It may be time to reconsider.

The idea is checks and balances. If two parties control the legislative process, they have to compromise. Otherwise nobody can make any laws at all – and that’s really the best outcome, because everything that should be illegal already is. So two parties, by competing, partially paralyze the federal government. At least that was my thought, until I saw the Democrats try to pass a health care bill. They seem somehow to be providing their own system of checks, if not balance. Or maybe I misunderstood what’s meant by check and balance. Too bad they didn’t fall into paralysis before the Congress gave their friends a bazillion dollars to stimulate the economy.

The voters they deserve

“[R]ecent evidence suggests that America’s hard-working hometown legislators are feeling the pinch from a fickle and increasingly out-of-touch voter class who no longer serves our needs.” — Crisis of Confidence: America’s Government Losing Faith in Out-of-Touch Constituents

Common sense

Peggy Noonan thinks common sense may sink ObamaCare. To illustrate her point, she suggests voters are thinking to themselves:

“Will whatever health care bill is produced by Congress increase the deficit? ‘Of course.’ Will it mean tax increases? ‘Of course.’ Will it mean new fees or fines? ‘Probably.’ Can I afford it right now? ‘No, I’m already getting clobbered.’ Will it make the marketplace freer and better? ‘Probably not.’ Is our health care system in crisis? ‘Yeah, it has been for years.’ Is it the most pressing crisis right now? ‘No, the economy is.’ Will a health-care bill improve the economy? ‘I doubt it.’”

Reasonable enough. But President Obama doesn’t have to convince the voters, or Harry and Louise, or his supporters. He only has to convince the Democrats in Washington. Because, as the astute reader will recall, the Democrats control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency. Relying on common sense to sink ObamaCare may be unrealistic.

More coffee

Coffee “may reverse Alzheimer’s”? Then maybe apple pie prevents heart disease, and ice cream reduces the incidence of strokes. It’d be nice, but it seems like the kind of thing someone would have noticed before now. Anyway, more study is needed, and that’s fine with me.

If it turns out to be true (or if it doesn’t) maybe President Obama will send us some stimulus coupons. It wouldn’t bust the budget – the Treasury would just print up the coupons, and the coffee shops would honor them. It wouldn’t cost the coffee shops anything – they would just pass on the cost to their customers. And it wouldn’t cost the customers, because they’ll just pass on the incremental cost by charging more for their labor. It’s free; it reduces medical costs; it makes everybody richer; and at least a cup of coffee would actually be stimulative.

One universal spouse

A Solomonic solution?

To solve the health care crisis, legalize polygamy and gay marriage. Here’s how it works.

President Obama marries everyone. About 20% of his supporters are already sold on this idea, and need read no more.

Others think it’s a fine idea in theory, but fear it would be logistically impossible to have 300,000,000 people say vows, even with help from ACORN. As it turns out, the only people who have anything to say are 67 senators, five members of the supreme court, and President Obama to say “You I will.”

Now it will only be a marriage of convenience, so for people who aren’t enthusiastic about the idea for its own sake, what’s the point?

A cradle-to-grave solution

We all get free health insurance as his dependents, and there’s the crisis resolved. As a bonus, there will only be one tax return, with one massive deduction for his ~300,000,000 dependents. The money saved on income taxes nation wide will pay for any additional medical costs.

There’ll be no more out-of-wedlock births, because everyone will be married; no more divorce, because who would want one? The president as universal spouse gets power of attorney, so there’ll be no more trouble about living wills, no more messy end-of-life issues. With only one estate, inheritance taxes can be abolished.

Of course, we’d only get the allowance “Dad” chose to give us, but that’s already the case.

Links

• “I think we all love the hairy-nosed wombat.” It seems an Australian government official is taking a few weeks off to care for some endangered wombats. Some of his political opponents object, but I applaud his choice. If more politicians would take time off from their legislative duties to interact with wildlife the world would be a better place. I would hope in the interests of diversity they would not limit themselves to wombats, but would proactively seek out the tarantulas, polar bears, and giant squids, just to make sure they’re happy and well-fed.
• Like the man says, “I love the use of the phrase ‘the situation became confusing’, just after the dead guy starts moving again.”
• Sneaking Equations into Gmail could be useful, though in most cases putting up a web page and sending a link might be as easy.
• Here’s a useful and insightful review of WALL-E.