Entries from June 2007 ↓

My old pals over at Politis are helping to promote a new documentary about Sputnik. It’s amazing to see how the media perpetuates the absolutely insane idea that somehow the survival of the Western civilization was at stake because the Soviet Union launched a small orb during the Cold War scare. Very, very interesting.

Watch Fox news talking head Neil Cavuto try to put words into Ron Paul’s mouth. I think it’s suspect when a journalist says let’s “stay on message” here. Who’s message? It’s interesting to watch the pundits’ lines of questioning with certain candidates. If they don’t agree with the stance, they press them harder on certain issues to get them to say something they don’t mean so it can become a story.

“The products that are moving out of the stores the fastest are those that are most expensive.”

Giorgio Armani

I believe the following very strongly. Acting in this manner is a work in progress.

“Riches secured on the competitive plane are never satisfactory and permanent; they are yours today, and another’s tomorrow. Remember, if you are to become rich in a scientific and certain way, you must rise entirely out of the competitive thought. You must never think for a moment that the supply is limited. Just as soon as you begin to think that all the money is being “cornered” and controlled by bankers and others, and that you must exert yourself to get laws passed to stop this process, and so on; in that moment you drop into the competitive mind, and your power to cause creation is gone for the time being; and what is worse, you will probably arrest the creative movements you have already instituted.” - Wallace D. Wattles

A post by Connor Boyack gave me the inspiration for the following. Let me be very clear before I write this; I find that I rarely disagree with Connor, and this is merely a different perspective on his post, which you should read first. The gist of his words were in relation to Mitt Romney not answering a reporter’s question.

Romney was asked . . .

“What do you dislike most about America?”

His response . . .

Gosh. I love America. I’m afraid I’m going to be at a loss for words because America for me is not just our rolling mountains and hills and streams and great cities. It’s the American people.

That was only part of his answer, but he never ultimately says there is anything he dislikes about America. Deceitful politician? Nope.

Classically trained by a PR Person
This isn’t just classic Romney. It’s classic for anybody who has been trained by a PR person or any person who doesn’t necessarily have an answer to a question they don’t agree even has an answer. If anything, the question is manipulative, which is why I would also have taught Romney to not directly address it.

Journalists are taught to ask assumptive and speculative questions (I’ll leave the assumption jokes aside). “What do you dislike most about America?” Any PR person with half a brain will teach clients to not answer assumptive and speculative questions. Yes, I don’t think any of us really believe that there isn’t something Romney doesn’t like about America, but the journalist assumes there is something he doesn’t like and expects a response. So, why should he (or anybody else for that matter) give an answer to a question just because somebody was trained to ask it that way?
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Universal healthcare’s dirty little secret - via the Los Angeles Times.

What these politicians and many other Americans fail to understand is that there’s a big difference between universal coverage and actual access to medical care.

Simply saying that people have health insurance is meaningless. Many countries provide universal insurance but deny critical procedures to patients who need them.

and more . . .

The real danger is that our national obsession with universal coverage will lead us to neglect reforms — such as enacting a standard health insurance deduction, expanding health savings accounts and deregulating insurance markets — that could truly expand coverage, improve quality and make care more affordable

DON’T jump on the Michael Moore healthcare bandwagon just because you watched this horribly one-sided film. At the end of the day, I truly believe the more you learn about UHC, the more you’ll see how it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. (And to add the marketing angle . . . the choice of the word universal by politicos was highly intentional).

Here’s the deal. I’ve seen Michael Moore’s SiCKO movie that makes the case for the U.S. to move to a Universal Healthcare system, and I already had some feelings on the issue before I had ever seen it.

How can you help?
I’m searching for good articles, topics, essays, opinions on both sides of the issue. I’d like to find stuff that supports universal healthcare and stuff that is against universal healthcare. I’ve read quite a bit lately, and I’d like to hear both sides before sharing my thoughts. Once I get all the links, I’ll post them up for everyone to read in one place. Know of a good article? email me at russell.page(@)gmail.com.

Here’s a start.
Lowering the cost of healthcare (against Universal Healthcare)

Sicko? The truth about he US healthcare system (for Universal Healthcare)

Again, email me the good articles, and I’ll post them all here.

UPDATE:The info is starting to pour in . . .

For? Against? Watch and decide.

Capitalistic Healthcare Pokes it’s Head into Canada’s “Universal Healthcare” System
“… there are some 875,000 Canadians currently on the waiting list for referrals to specialists or for medical procedures. Our organization was formed in 2003 to help Canadians from coast to coast, to “Leave the queue” and take personal responsibility for their own private medical services.” - via Timely Medical Procedures.

Breaking Down the Uninsured - Could it Be Their Choice
- 45 million uninsured in U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- 38 percent (17 million) of uninsured earn more than $50,000 a year.
- 20 percent (9 million) of the uninsured earn more than $75,000 per year.

Uninsured in America? Really? Are you sure?

(1) Matthew Miller, The Two Percent Solution: Fixing America’s Problems in Ways Liberals and Conservatives Can Love (New York: Public Affairs Books, 2003),pp. 112-13.

(2) See Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor and Cheryl Hill Lee, “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2005,” U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, P60-231, August 2006, Table 8 (sub heading Household Income), page 22 (http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p60-231.pdf)

(3) Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, It has spending for age 25 to 34. Unfortunately, it does not break down age 18 to 24 - but we can reasonably infer that spending for people in their early 20s is similar to mid-20s. (http://www.bls.gov/cex/2005/CrossTabs/agebyinc/x25to34.pdf)

(4) Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) FAQ, (http://www.emtala.com/faq.htm)

(5) The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association estimates that nearly one-third of the uninsured already qualify for public coverage such as Medicaid or S-CHIP. See “The Uninsured in America,” BlueCrossBlueShield Association, excerpt available at: http://www.bcbs.com/issues/uninsured/who-are-the-uninsured/uninsured_sec1.pdf

(6) John Goodman, Five Myths of Socialized Medicine, Cato’s Letter Winter 2005, page 1 (http://www.cato.org/pubs/catosletter/catosletterv3n1.pdf)

(7) “Catastrophe in Care”, June 2, 2005 Leo W. Banks, Tucson Weekly, (http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid:69346)

(8) David Gratzer, The Cure: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care (New York: Encounter Books, 2006), page 87.

Newspapergrl struck a chord with a post about getting fired. It got me thinking about how many jobs I’ve had since I was 13, so I decided to follow the trail of how I came to work in public relations, or how I got a job in PR. It’s a lengthy post.

The Working Life

Elementary School Janitor - Way too many of my friends worked here with me. The elementary school had tunnels underneath it that could have been imagined up by Edgar Allen Poe. Dark, creepy and windy. We occasionally had our fun running around inside them like irresponsible teenagers. Got paid the same no matter how long it took to get our assigned work done. Quit for Hardees (age 13-16)

Hardees - Learned how to make fried chicken and biscuits. Quit for Baseball (age 16)

Burger King - My co-workers were often drunk because they kept beer in the cooler next to the shredded lettuce, and I got to work one day to find a girl separating the seeds out of her marijuana while sitting in the break room. … NOTE … This is why I will never allow my kids to work in fast food. Quit because it was a crappy job, but I think that was easy to figure out. (age 16-17?)
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