So I've been running in my Vibram Five Fingers for a few weeks now; herewith a status report ( Read more... )

The Boston Globe's front page has an article/photo gallery on "re-imagining Boston City Hall". Now, I've been to Boston's City Hall a few times, and I have my own ideas about redesign. Mostly, they start like this:


( Read more... )

( Blatant Political Fundraising Post )

The Wall Street Journal reports today on a hospital group in Illinois (a Catholic hospital group, for extra irony points) which has had their charitable status pulled because they did not provide enough charity care ( Read more... )

This is an interesting point about providing universal health care. In brief, the writer points out that there is no "standard" amount of health care which everyone needs. Healthy people need none at all; sick people can need "some" to "a really lot". For other things, it is possible to say "No. You don't *need* steak; you can manage on burger ( Read more... )

One of the interesting things I'm learning here at the Democratic Campaign Institute is that politicians tend not to talk to people who don't vote ( Read more... )

I know quite a few of my friends eschew politics. Some just aren't interested; others feel the whole field is somehow "dirty" or "tainted" because scandals in politics get a lot of press, and are often frankly sordid ( Read more... )

fallenpegasus, call your office

So there's an interesting dilemma been brewing in medicine for some while now, concerning placebos and the use of the placebo effect in clinical practice. A recent study indicates that the strength of the placebo effect can be augmented by "a supportive psychosocial context". Now, the study is for patients with irritable bowel syndrome, a ( Read more... )

I've been thinking about the meaning of conservatism in the modern era, as contrasted with the more historical view of "conservative"; my conclusion is that "conservatives" are using a word which doesn't, in my opinion, mean what they think it means. Herewith some quotes from an eminent conservative of yore, Edmund Burke. I admit they are ( Read more... )