The Gum Tree for 2007 September 12

Here is a quote from Romney recently: “I believe that one of the most significant healthcare challenges facing America today is that posed by chronic diseases, such as cancer, asthma, diabetes, and heart disease. Chronic diseases affect the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans, fuel significant increases in healthcare costs, and are responsible for seven out of every ten deaths in the United States every year. These problems are made worse by the fact that millions of Americans lack the quality health insurance coverage they need to adequately prevent or manage chronic diseases. “A few weeks ago, I unveiled my healthcare reform plan in a speech to the Florida Medical Association. It is a plan that is designed to give every American access to affordable, portable, quality health insurance, while reducing the runaway growth in healthcare costs. I believe that my plan addresses chronic disease and emphasizes the importance of properly preventing, treating, and managing such diseases. I also believe that my market-based, patient-centered reform plan will continue to promote the innovation and creativity that will one day bring an end to many chronic diseases." Bravo! I am heartened to see the problem addressed instead of using healthcare as a fulcrum to leverage political power.

For those of you who enjoy the TV show, The Office; here is an article that you might find insightful. Infantilization of the workforce. . . can there be a parallel drawn to America in general??? Now, I have to get back to work!

The Daily Mail of London has been examining the status of women recently. 1) women in Hollywood (supposedly the most pro-feminist group in the world right?) who can't even get a job after turning 40 because of those darn wrinkles and cellulite. 2) Britney--post children; used and discarded, like day-old bread which is no longer hot or fresh--need we say more, and most importantly 3) The Changing Feminist views on Abortion. The story includes 10 interviews with women who have had abortions, almost all of whom regretted it and 7 of whom said they would like to see more restrictions on abortion. I add the observation that largest group of babies aborted in the U.S. are African Americans, and in the world: Women (China). That should give any policymaker, who really cares about the rights of the minority, pause. Some heartening quotes:

"How much longer can the Government ignore that silent majority? Just as we did 40 years ago, when the Abortion Act came into being, we are standing at a new moral watershed. And just as we did back then, what we need is legislation that will protect the most vulnerable - and they don't get more vulnerable than a healthy, developing foetus. It would be bitterly ironic if in 2007, when women wish to exercise their collective right to choose - in this case to choose to make abortion less available - we are utterly ignored."

Yes, I do believe the Feminist movement is finally starting to grow up and realize that asserting one's right to kill the innocent does not a noblewoman make. Perhaps it is the economic volatility or the growing uncertainty in this world that is sharpening the understanding of so many of those baby boomer brats who enjoyed the fruits of the largest expansion of material wealth the world has ever seen in the 50s; having the unmerited luxury to live life with a dull moral sense because of the security and prosperity for which their parents, The Greatest Generation, sacrificed. But, history is history, and I have great hopes for the future of this greatest nation on God's earth. I hope that my generation will learn the lessons of that history and help sculpt a more noble world; a society firmly rooted in the right.