saurkraut

I don’t even know what to say about Charles Krauthammer. I roll over to the WaPo and read him occasionally to see what tripe he’s dragged up from his black soul. I love how people say “Krauthammer is a smart guy” as if that’s some justification for being a soulless and ignorant mouthpiece for the lost conservative movement in America. Kraut’s latest diatribe is against Medicare paying for end-of-life counseling for people who want it. Here’s the text of the section that Krauthammer links to but won’t extract in his piece because he rolls the same way as all shallow debaters: link but don’t show the information because most conservative Americans are too lazy to actually click and read something.

(vii) Voluntary advance care planning (as defined in paragraph (a) of this section) upon agreement with the individual.

(viii) Any other element determined appropriate through the national coverage determination process. Voluntary advance care planning means, for purposes of this section, verbal or written information regarding the following areas:

(i) An individual’s ability to prepare an advance directive in the case where an injury or illness causes the individual to be unable to make health care decisions.

(ii) Whether or not the physician is willing to follow the individual’s wishes as expressed in an advance directive.

Here’s what Chuck has to say about it:

“Most people don't remember Obamacare's notorious Section 1233, mandating government payments for end-of-life counseling. It aroused so much anxiety as a possible first slippery step on the road to state-mandated late-life rationing that the Senate never included it in the final health-care law.” (emphasis added)

What we need more of in this country is late-life planning: What do you desire if you are in a horrible accident? What medical care do you want if you are comatose and brain dead? Who do you want to make medical decisions for you if you can’t? This is something that has long been championed by conservatives as long as it wasn’t proposed by a Democrat. This is the type of planning that allows you to decide what you want. If you’re on Medicare, and want advice, you can get it. If you don’t, then don’t. It’s a pretty simple concept.

Krauthammer, of course, simply recycles bullshit from wherever he can find it. Death panels equal late-life planning? You’re a really smart guy.

lack of effort

We finally made it home after two extra days stranded in the Vermont wilderness. Well, it wasn’t wilderness, per se, but according to Delta Air Lines it was.

Our Sunday flight was canceled due to the incoming storm – of which they notified us of (the canceled flight) via phone messages at about 8am. Their phones lines couldn’t handle any load (“call back later!”) and the Web site was useless. Once we got through hours later they had already rebooked us on the same flight on Monday. Insert snow/blizzard joke here. They again canceled Monday’s flight (at about 12:30pm on a 6pm departure out of Hartford) but just shuttered up at that point and did nothing. No messages, no e-mails, no phone lines, no Web site. We finally got through about 8pm and were told we were rebooked on Thursday. X told them to give us our money back, which they did in order to probably save their lives, and we rented a car one-way from Hartford to D.C. for yesterday. 14 travel hours. The NJ Turnpike was mayhem, as was the Tappen Zee Bridge, so we had to bail on that route and take the back(er) roads to get home with great help from the Gandolf Positioning System (GPS) and Getting Home Route Assistance Center. If you’re keeping track at home we transited eight states over 515 miles at an average moving speed of 42mph: Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Tired and rumpled we slept.

Christmas, on the other hand, was wonderful.

Three kids are at home. Two adults are at work.

I’m tired.

More later.

trickery

I'm not a fan of Ken Cuccinelli primarily because I think he's a blind politician masquerading as an intelligently-designed being. I guess you could claim that as a state's attorney general he's isn't a politician but in Virginia it's an elected office. As someone who is allegedly a lawyer representing the best interests of his state it might behoove him to be something other then an AG that spews against "liberals".

The health care insurance mandate, in which you will pay a fine via federal taxes for not having health care insurance, seems to be the single toothpick that Cuccinelli (and to be fair, a bunch of other states' attorneys general) is using to support his hatred of the health care reform bill. Two judges have so far ruled that the bill is constitutional and one has ruled that only the mandate is unconstitutional. One of the greatest contributors to society that the internet provides is the ability of readers to contribute well-formed ideas that are often impossible for others to verbalize. In the great debate on the constitutionality of the individual mandate it hasn't been presented better than this reader's input (at andrewsullivan.com)

What keeps getting lost in the discussion about the so-called "mandate" is that it is simply a tax penalty for people who don't purchase insurance. If that form of incentive is unconstitutional, as some are arguing, then the intellectual impasse that you immediately run into is that incentives in the form of tax breaks are also unconstitutional. Tax breaks for specific economic activities are functionally and mathematically indistinguishable from tax penalties for failing to engage in specific activities.

For example, [Wisconsin Congressman Paul] Ryan's health-care proposal, much-loved by many self-professed conservatives, centers around tax vouchers that individuals can use to purchase health insurance -- i.e., tax breaks for buying insurance. But that is equivalent to imposing a tax penalty on everyone who doesn't purchase health insurance. Would the current "mandate", therefore, suddenly become constitutional if Congress simply raised taxes on everyone (something it surely has the power to do), and then gave a tax break to everyone who gets insurance, which would have exactly the same effect as the current bill? For that matter, what about tax breaks for all sorts of specific purchases, from houses to health care, that have been in the tax code for years?

Thanks, Mr. (or Ms.) Reader.

listening and reading

There’s a regular guest/segment on the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU that’s always my favorite of the month: Shaping the City with Roger Lewis. You can get the podcasts of just that show or segment free at iTunes. Lewis is an architect/professor and the shows about D.C – and cities, in general – are always enthralling. You may call me a dork; you may not.

There was a time not so long ago that I’d sit around reading slip opinions from the Supremes. (I know this is adding weights to my dorkness from above.) Andrew Cohan has published his list of must reads in law for 2010. I think I’ve already read at least parts of them but I think I might take the time to sit down and work through them more detail.

We have our first snow of the year coming down in the Metro area and you can safely assume the D.C.-area drivers will make the road a living hell. I’m heading out. I’m sure the stores won’t be crowded.

todd mile zone

I cranked up the iPhone this morning to check on the current weather – cold – and was greeted by a full-screen picture of Kim Kardashian in a bikini. You might ask…

We were reading last night; I, The Disappearing Spoon, X, some fashion mag, and she suddenly said, “Who are the Kardashians?” As if. I quickly let her know there was dad (attorney, deceased), mom (I know nothing about her), step-dad (Bruce Jenner), Khloe (married to Lamar Odom), Kim (dates athletes), and Kourtney (no idea). I also passed along that they are famous in a Paris Hilton way but without as much money, and that Kim is primarily famous for her ass. She was a little confused so I pulled up some Kim/Ass shots on the iPhone to give her a sample. That was the last thing before I clicked it to sleep. There’s your explanation. I’m not sure if this makes me look better or worse.

I baked some potato/wheat bread last night – came out so-so – and suddenly decided that I want to have a home proofing box for baking. If pushed, I’d say that about 100% of people who start baking seriously at home immediately think they need a proof box. What I’ve found – and I’m not way serious yet – is that most people simply jury rig their own contraption of sorts with plastic and pans of water. As with any hobby, once you get started you suddenly realize you need a million high- (or low-) tech items.

I’ve never made a New Year’s resolution (or a list) but am contemplating giving the oft-maligned process a go. I think refining it to something functional and doable might make all the difference.

my 15 minutes

Here's the final frame of the 2010 UK Championship from the weekend. Best of 19, tied at 9-9, John Higgins had trailed 9-5 after 14 frames.

My pal, Buzz, and I saw these two legends a number of times at the World Championships in Sheffield. We saw Higgins win the first of his three World Titles in 1998, and Williams win his first (of two) in 2000. I won 60 pounds on the latter match. Great, great stuff. I miss snooker, oh, I miss it.

Enjoy

“…die on this hill.”

I hate stealing from TnC at The Atlantic but I can’t help it. This comment arrived from a reader in response to a post on testing and standards, especially in relation to the new NYC public school administration. Not being a college professor doesn’t mean I don’t understand what he (?) is seeing. As an older student who happens to sit in class with a nice cross-section of 18-24 year-olds I’m exposed to what systems (whether public, private, or home) have spit out into the world of post-secondary education. If you want to follow along – and it’s a great discussion – here’s the post and comment section. Search for “D_e_x” to hit the first comment and you can follow from there. Here is the first comment in its entirety:

I'm up at the front of the classroom while my students take their final exam for Entrepreneurship 300. A fundamental goal in all my classes is that students learn how to critically analyze real problems applying theory and using fact-based arguments. Rightly or wrongly, I have chosen to die on this hill. They have to write executive summaries, properly formatted, using dense, precise language. Less than 5% of my students arrive in the classroom with that ability*, but ~2/3 of them leave knowing how to do so. It's teachable, but not without a lot of tough lessons and many tantrums by kids who have been failed by their families, their communities, and their schools (incidentally, I find the same thing with home- and private-school kids). Most of my colleagues have one or both of the following problems with the idea: (1) they're too lazy to bother; and (2) they think of students as sub-human and incapable of learning high-level skills. It makes me sad.

*As we are an open enrollment college, ~1/3 of our students leave after their first semester, many of them simply unequipped for college. I routinely have students who write at a fourth grade level.

Edited to add: I should point out that it's testable, too. People claim that it isn't, but it is.

In a lot of ways it summarizes what sits front-and-center when I think about education. It can be done. It is hard. We’re not ready to commit fully to the operation.

post paid

It’s well worth your time. It was worth my time and it’s something that I’ve been pondering – in one form or another – since Thanksgiving.

My own perception of my world is oftentimes completely different than the world I actually see; within my daily life and bounds. It’s not an external issue, it’s internal; something ticking away that makes me wonder where I’m going. The entire exercise isn’t too distant from the prisoner’s dilemma that we play with our future selves.

There’s a Quiz Night on the horizon, or at least over in Clarendon, tonight. Our last effort in November was horrific so we need redemption. Please, redemption. I’ll pass along results, time permitting.

working for free

Well, I’ve had both bakeries that I was interested in for my externship fall by the wayside; a bit disappointing. But, I have a good chance of staging at some point next month with my dream chef – fingers crossed. I’m also set to hit a small European/French café this week with a goal of pushing for an externship there next quarter. If that falls through then I’ll just hold off until the summer term and try to work something then.

Just a single class left this term (Wednesday) and then I’m off until January 10th. I think there might be some plans between now and then, including a few Quiz Nights.

Just about the entire clutch Wonder Twin-inspired members headed to Woolly Mammoth on Saturday for Second City’s A Girl’s Guide to Washington Politics. Afterwards it was a fancy-ish dinner at Cedar (compliments of Corey). It was an impressive meal that topped, by everyone's account, our outing at the much higher-rated 2941 a few months back. I had a stunning squash soup, an excellent fluke, and a hazelnut chocolate dessert that was exceptional. The most important, and defining, aspect of a great restaurant for us is this: great bread to open and great coffee to finish. Cedar hit on all cylinders.

once again. repeat. and again.

We had a discussion about net neutrality the other night. X played the role of expert and I played the role of me. First of all, ‘net neutrality’ is a horrible catchphrase for this issue but I can’t do much about that etymology. As far as I can sort out, there’s not a sane way around the content vs. network provider battle where the network provider comes out on top. If we believe that once we are ‘online’ then we should have unlimited access to the internet then the content providers win this battle. The prime players in the current battle are Comcast and Netflix (let them stand-in for any combination you choose, as X does) and the areas debated involve Netflix streamers using more of the transmission space than others: Comcast feels they should either be paid more by Netflix or the customers, or should be able to throttle high-use data/customers. The basic premise of net neutrality is that the backbone (means of information movement) doesn’t have the right to limit, control, or alter data delivery. Of course, Comcast built the network and set it up for triple play connectivity (internet, phone, and cable) into our homes but now can see the writing on the wall where we all cancel our cable (the phone is nearly gone) and only have internet for all our communication needs. They, unfortunately, have loads of infrastructure and costs invested and want to continue delivery dominance at the prices they desire.

It seems the only out here is for Comcast to decide on a price they feel meets their need for internet delivery and simply charge that number to every customer. From that point forward they are playing the market game that’s controlled by the existing demand and consumer forces. The final part of this freedom mystery is that, as always, we know how this will end. We know the final result will be that all of our needs will eventually – sooner rather than later – be met via the internet. There’s no way to stop it, whether Comcast likes that or not, and we’ve been down the road before: music, books, movies, etc. Just because you control the means of transmission or production doesn’t mean you’ll have it forever: you had a nice run now move on. I’d guess that we fought this exact same battle when the printing press and movable type became the norm five centuries ago. Same battles, different technologies.

I’m almost done with my autumn quarter – just two more classes after tonight – and will then have about three weeks off before kicking off again in January.

L. got her PSAT scored back, she’s smart enough.

It’s cold and the fireplace is now operational on a nearly full-time basis in the evenings.

Our cats are still lumps of uselessness.

All is well.

five minutes for fighting

Has it really been two weeks? We can call it a holiday break.

L. and I went to the Caps’ game on Saturday night and sat in the third row from the ice: it’s a whole new game when you’re essentially eye-to-eye with NHL players. The size, speed, and physicality of the game is amazing from up close. It’s not the best place to sit if you want to see the entire ice and watch plays develop but it’s a view that worth having a few times in your life. Overall it was a busy Saturday and a slower Sunday.

I finally wrapped up The Tiger by John Vaillant and can’t recommend it enough if you read non-fiction / adventure. I think X will be happy to not have to listen to my tiger talk any more. I believe the rights to the story have been sold for a film but there’s no way they won’t screw up the feel of the story. Read the book, skip the movie.

I want to take a little time to rant on politics and the economy but I’m at a crossroads on the extensions of both tax cuts and unemployment benefits. Neither has a significant effect on me directly, and I’m not quite sure on Obama’s longer view for now so I have to be careful. What I find strange is the memory of a campaign cycle that was all about cutting the deficit and reducing debt yet here we are ready to keep revenue down and increase spending – seems strange, right? My direction, as if queried, would be the let all the Bush-era tax cuts expire and extend unemployment benefits until jobs start coming back. (Being a lagging indicator – the last thing that arrives in a recession and the last to come back – the jobs aren’t there and probably won’t be for quite a bit.) The extension money is small potatoes compared to the hundreds of billions (for high earners. The number is more like $3.7 trillion over ten years if they all expire) in lost revenue that the tax cut extension would eliminated. I don’t much buy into the trickle down economics bullshit from the Reagan years. I don’t much by into the Bush idea of just continuing our lives as if no sacrifice is needed. If the Republicans dropped the “we won’t do anything until the tax cuts are addressed” in front of me I would have simply punched Mitch McConnell in the head and told him that was fine by me. Let them expire. We’ll do nothing. But, like I said, I don’t know the President’s long view on this compromise.

It was only a small venting.