If you don’t immediately get what Continetti’s refering to, here’s a clue: Obama and his top advisers Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, and David Axelrod all hail from the Chicago school, but of course most of you caught it right away. having long recognized Barack Obama’s style of politics being the Chicago way of doing things that the rest of us think of as being counter to having anything to do with bipartisanship. What’s so ironic is that while many Americans voted for this president because of his vow to bring the country together, he and his administration are instead, ripping it apart and have brought the meanest form of politics to Washington.

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Obama administration ‘out of touch’

If you don’t immediately get what Continetti’s refering to, here’s a clue: Obama and his top advisers Rahm Emanuel, Valerie Jarrett, and David Axelrod all hail from the Chicago school, but of course most of you caught it right away. having long recognized Barack Obama’s style of politics being the Chicago way of doing things that the rest of us think of as being counter to having anything to do with bipartisanship. What’s so ironic is that while many Americans voted for this president because of his vow to bring the country together, he and his administration are instead, ripping it apart and have brought the meanest form of politics to Washington.

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Obama administration ‘out of touch’

A response to the Facebook poll: Should health care be considered a basic human right?

If health care is a basic human right, then why are so many people speaking in such nationalistic terms–complaining, for instance, about illegal aliens, as if only Americans are human beings? Citizens of Mexico are humans, too. So are citizens of Nigeria, and China. If health care is a basic human right, then it is a basic right of every human being in the world.

Much of the conflict in the current health care debate comes from confusion about the concept of “rights.” Many Americans cling to an old-fashioned definition of “rights” which denies the validity of positive rights like the right to adequate health care. So allow me to take a moment to clarify the difference between positive and negative human rights.

Health care is a positive right, which means it is a right to certain goods and services produced by others. The right to health care creates a corresponding obligation for others to produce and provide those goods and services. In contrast, a negative right, like the right to life, requires only that others refrain from killing you. Thus, negative rights require nothing more than acknowledgment and self-control from others, while positive rights require production and provision of goods and services. Of course this does not mean that positive rights do not exist–only that they require much more effort to “defend.”

Another difference between positive and negative rights is that negative rights place a negative obligation on all other humans equally; your right to life requires all other humans to refrain from killing you. But a positive right entails the obligation to provide goods and services; it cannot be required of those who cannot produce and provide those goods and services, but only of the relatively small segment of humanity that has the ability to produce them. The obligations of this particular group (in this case, doctors, nurses, drug companies, etc.) can be somewhat mitigated by taxing everyone who receives income to pay those who must actually do the work. This spreads the obligation more evenly over the human population.

I think it’s obvious that the defense of humanity’s right to health care requires the establishment of a world organization devoted to assessing the needs of all countries and ensuring that those needs are met, with as much fairness as is humanly possible. This organization must be granted power, first of all, to tax the entire working/investing population of the world (though perhaps individual governments could tax their own citizens and hand it over all at once). Funding would probably be best accomplished by steeply progressive taxes on income and wealth. Secondly, the organization must have the power to deploy doctors, nurses, and medical resources where they are needed most. At first, this system would undoubtedly entail a massive influx of money and personnel from the richer to the poorer countries of the world, but only until such time as health care resources are deemed by the central medical authority to be distributed evenly over the world.

It is to be hoped that American medical personnel would voluntarily and happily embrace their placements in foreign countries for the good of humanity. However, the central medical authority must have the ability to enforce the fair distribution of medical services if necessary. Possibly large fines could be levied on anyone who refuses deployment, and this money could be used to pay others who are willing. Possibly doctors and nurses could be barred from practicing their chosen profession if they refuse to accept their assignments.

We would hope that stronger measures, such as imprisonment, would not be necessary to enforce compliance from doctors and nurses. However, imprisonment has always been required to enforce the payment of taxes, and this is not likely to change. In the United States and other developed nations where the first phase of universal health care will undoubtedly entail higher taxes coupled with a lower level of health care services, strong measures may be required to enforce compliance with the new health care tax for certain segments of the population.

While sensible, progressive thinkers will undoubtedly embrace the plan and pay the new taxes voluntarily, the United States is unfortunately home to a great number of potential domestic terrorists who care for no one but themselves, and regard all socially progressive programs with extreme paranoia. Their propaganda attempts to discredit the very concept of the positive rights essential to a socially advanced society. Sadly, we are likely to experience a vicious backlash against the health care system from this backward group, and additional taxes may be needed to pay for the incarceration of any who refuse to comply with the new laws.

Tessa Rose is the wife of tax heretic/anarchist writer Larken Rose, with whom many of you are familiar. Find out more about Tessa at http://tessa-rose.blogspot.com/.

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Is health care a basic human right?

A response to the Facebook poll: Should health care be considered a basic human right?

If health care is a basic human right, then why are so many people speaking in such nationalistic terms–complaining, for instance, about illegal aliens, as if only Americans are human beings? Citizens of Mexico are humans, too. So are citizens of Nigeria, and China. If health care is a basic human right, then it is a basic right of every human being in the world.

Much of the conflict in the current health care debate comes from confusion about the concept of “rights.” Many Americans cling to an old-fashioned definition of “rights” which denies the validity of positive rights like the right to adequate health care. So allow me to take a moment to clarify the difference between positive and negative human rights.

Health care is a positive right, which means it is a right to certain goods and services produced by others. The right to health care creates a corresponding obligation for others to produce and provide those goods and services. In contrast, a negative right, like the right to life, requires only that others refrain from killing you. Thus, negative rights require nothing more than acknowledgment and self-control from others, while positive rights require production and provision of goods and services. Of course this does not mean that positive rights do not exist–only that they require much more effort to “defend.”

Another difference between positive and negative rights is that negative rights place a negative obligation on all other humans equally; your right to life requires all other humans to refrain from killing you. But a positive right entails the obligation to provide goods and services; it cannot be required of those who cannot produce and provide those goods and services, but only of the relatively small segment of humanity that has the ability to produce them. The obligations of this particular group (in this case, doctors, nurses, drug companies, etc.) can be somewhat mitigated by taxing everyone who receives income to pay those who must actually do the work. This spreads the obligation more evenly over the human population.

I think it’s obvious that the defense of humanity’s right to health care requires the establishment of a world organization devoted to assessing the needs of all countries and ensuring that those needs are met, with as much fairness as is humanly possible. This organization must be granted power, first of all, to tax the entire working/investing population of the world (though perhaps individual governments could tax their own citizens and hand it over all at once). Funding would probably be best accomplished by steeply progressive taxes on income and wealth. Secondly, the organization must have the power to deploy doctors, nurses, and medical resources where they are needed most. At first, this system would undoubtedly entail a massive influx of money and personnel from the richer to the poorer countries of the world, but only until such time as health care resources are deemed by the central medical authority to be distributed evenly over the world.

It is to be hoped that American medical personnel would voluntarily and happily embrace their placements in foreign countries for the good of humanity. However, the central medical authority must have the ability to enforce the fair distribution of medical services if necessary. Possibly large fines could be levied on anyone who refuses deployment, and this money could be used to pay others who are willing. Possibly doctors and nurses could be barred from practicing their chosen profession if they refuse to accept their assignments.

We would hope that stronger measures, such as imprisonment, would not be necessary to enforce compliance from doctors and nurses. However, imprisonment has always been required to enforce the payment of taxes, and this is not likely to change. In the United States and other developed nations where the first phase of universal health care will undoubtedly entail higher taxes coupled with a lower level of health care services, strong measures may be required to enforce compliance with the new health care tax for certain segments of the population.

While sensible, progressive thinkers will undoubtedly embrace the plan and pay the new taxes voluntarily, the United States is unfortunately home to a great number of potential domestic terrorists who care for no one but themselves, and regard all socially progressive programs with extreme paranoia. Their propaganda attempts to discredit the very concept of the positive rights essential to a socially advanced society. Sadly, we are likely to experience a vicious backlash against the health care system from this backward group, and additional taxes may be needed to pay for the incarceration of any who refuse to comply with the new laws.

Tessa Rose is the wife of tax heretic/anarchist writer Larken Rose, with whom many of you are familiar. Find out more about Tessa at http://tessa-rose.blogspot.com/.

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Is health care a basic human right?

The reason given out for keeping the meeting venue a secret is security concerns. Even with the participation of US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, the Asian central banks are expected to steal the thunder at the meeting. The Asian bankers are uniting under the leadership of the governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, Zeti Akhtar Aziz. – Blog of India¹

How about that Tracy Porter Guy!  Oh well, while everyone was being distracted over the weekend, the big story in the world was happening at a secret location near Sydney, Australia with almost no media coverage.  Thanks to the Herald Sun and the above blogger in India a few hints are emerging, though.

Meanwhile, the folks at MW² inadvertently added a further piece to the puzzle through yet another one  of those 'Oh, must be OK then,' says son as cardiologist cuts short golfing vacation to rush to mother's side stories the financial press likes to perpetrate:

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Jean-Claude Trichet may not be flying to the rescue of Greece and other debt-troubled southern European nations, but news Tuesday that the European Central Bank president will leave Sydney earlier than initially planned to attend a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels was enough to provide the euro and financial markets with a lift.

———–

[1]: "World’s Top Central Banks Meeting in Australia", by Meena Rani K, Blog of India, February 8, 2010.

[2]: "Financial markets calm as Greek rescue speculation rises: Portugal plans 10-year euro-denominated bond issue", by William L. Watts, MarketWatch, February 9, 2010.

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Plot Thickens @ RBA Jubilee — Asian Creditor Cenbanks Dominating?

If the acquisition had been approved, it would have prevented the two executives from losing what was left of their investments in the bank.

More on The Fed

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Senator Robert Menendez Asked Fed To Aid Bank Led By Donors

My point is that my Shop Vac is totally awesome. That is, unless I try to move it. It has wheels, but at the first sign of movement, the Shop Vac starts squirming and tossing off attachments like a balloonist heading into a volcano. The hose becomes like a spastic elephant trunk. It will find all of the loose objects in your garage and fling them one-by-one into oil spills and darkened spider nests. If you focus your attention on the flailing vacuum hose, the power cord will wrap itself around your legs and try to trip you into the pyramid of old paint cans. And the screaming. Good lord, the little wheels scream on the concrete floor. It's Shop Vac language for "LEAVE ME ALONE! DO NOT MOVE ME! I WILL KILL YOU WITH MY TENTACLE!"

The worst of it, if I can pick just one thing, is that the situation totally ruins my manly vibe. I live in fear that Shelly will come into the garage and see me losing a cage match to R2D2. That would totally suck, ironically.

Anyway, I've developed a truce with my Shop Vac. Now I sweep the debris from wherever it falls all the way to where the Shop Vac lives, and directly under its waiting nostril. I gingerly press the ON button along a direct vertical line so I don't awaken the tentacle of death. I still plan to use the Shop Vac for haircuts, but I'll have to put the kids on towels on their backs and slowly drag them towards the Shop Vac's waiting hose and hope for the best.

I searched the Internet for what I imagined would be the obvious set of third-party add-ons for the Shop Vac, but found none. What I want is some sort of pole attachment from the top of the Shop Vac upon which I can drape the power cord and hose while moving the Shop Vac against its will. Sort of like an IV drip scenario, but with a power cord and vacuum hose. Would one of you go invent that and get back to me?

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My Shop Vac

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Wyclef Jean and Mary J. Blige are Full of Hope for Haiti

Wyclef Jean has tapped into his Haitian spirit by using music and festivities to shed light on the dire need for help and funds in his homeland. He was on hand for the launch of Hope, Help, & Relief Haiti in New York on Monday.

Throughout his career, Wyclef has used his celebrity to bring awareness to the needs of Haiti, a nation that faced struggles even prior to the earthquake. Following this natural disaster, Wyclef found his "true destiny," he told ET.

Mary J. Blige, who performed a lot of songs from her vast catalogue, said, "You have to put yourself in their shoes and think if it was you, you would want people to come out in the same capacity and help you get out of the situation you’re in." The images plastered throughout the media of the people struggling in Haiti have inspired Gayle King to be active in supporting recovery efforts.

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Wyclef Jean and Mary J. Blige are Full of Hope for Haiti

RFK, Jr. 15 months ago: Global warming means no snow or cold in DC

Right.  I suppose that is why tomorrow’s storm may put 2010 in the record books as the snowiest winter ever in D.C. since they began keeping records in 1884.

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Shovel My Driveway, RFK, Jr.!