SerPolUS_IDES

New Yorker writer James Wood addresses different theodicies (God punishing or teaching, or self-comforting) in "Between God and a Hard Place," Sunday, 1/24/10

This parody is making its way around the Web quickly. Best I can tell it comes from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Despite obstacles, Obama has made blacks more optimistic

Haiti's tragedy & right-wing obscenities in blaming the victims for God's punishment

Praise for Kidder's true story of a Burundi refugee who came to US, went to med school, & returned to build a clinic

Bob Doherty is the main Washington lobbyist of the ACP - after the AMA, the largest organization of US doctors (representing internal medicine physicians, whether primary care or subspecialist). He's had some very interesting posts since the Massachusetts Senate upset. His blog is a finalist in the sixth annual Medical Weblog Awards for the Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog. Doherty articulates the ACP's case for supporting the current Senate&House Health Care Reform legislation (whose failure he & many others will end up leading eventually to more draconian limits on doctors & patients, in order to control the currently unsustainable growth in US health care costs (now approaching 20% of GDP).

Pho is a fairly conservative primary care doctor in New Hampshire, but believes that defeat of the current Senate/House legislation will eventually lead to more draconian restrictions on doctors and patients, since the cost of medical care will otherwise become untenable in the U.S.

Palm Pre- & Pixi-Plus phones via Sprint & Verizon - advtgs include multitasking (eg, music while checking email), BECOMES WiFi hot spot (which others can use w/i 150 ft) at $40 extra/mo. "Good for non-techies"

Title of review: "A Season in Hell." Kidder authored "Mountains beyond Mountains" in 2003, about work of Paul Farmer (from Harvard) and his organization Partners in Health, which has a large Haitian-run health organization in Haiti - pretty much intact after the earthquake.

Kidder authored "Mountains beyond Mountains" in 2003, about work of Paul Farmer (from Harvard) and his organization Partners in Health, which has a large Haitian-run health organization in Haiti - pretty much intact after the earthquake.

From: Keating N, et al "Physician factors associated with discussions about end-of-life care" Cancer 2010; DOI: 10.1002/cncr.24761.

Cicero's usage demostrates that the Latin word "serpolus" meant not "little slave" (as defined in the lexicon) but had the pejorative meaning "paltry slave."

letters re Montefiore palliative program description in NYTimes

Out of Tragedy, Questions About God: 4 out of 5 letters (surprising proportion for NYTimes) object to Wood's either/or view of theodicy: if God is omnipotent (& doesn't prevent suffering), he is cruel; if God is loving and good (and only comforts, but doesn't prevent suffering), he is weak and worth ignoring. They affirm the mystery "that God is deeply present in and through the events of the world - often inscrutably, but always powerfully and lovingly - and though we cannot for the life of us see how, even catastrophes include divine presence and power." A Christian notes that fellow believer "might counter [that] suffering and death come to all, even to a God who in his love took on our mortal, vulnerable condition as his own."

Perils of ignoring Medicare isues at age 65

Julian E. Zelizer, author of "Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security -- From World War II to the War on Terrorism," is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He points out that accusations of "soft on defense" are not new - they have existed since WW II. And he argues that they had very bad effects on US policies in the 1950s & 1960s.

Esquire's interview with Governor Tim Pawlenty, whom many expect to run for president in 2012, on bailouts, health care, whether Obama is a socialist, and where Republicans go from here

Palin is undermined by questions about her qualifications

But only 1/8 very familiar with Tea Party, with favorable ratings split. Sarah Palin has lost popularity.

Brooks states Obama mistook 2008 landslide as American readiness for a new New Deal, rather than a referendum on GWBush. Americans are reacting against "government over-reaching." He sees 2 alternatives (among 4 available): Harsh&Arrogant (pass health reform by reconciliation) vs. Weak&Feckless (switch to incremental changes). Brooks favors the latter as less likely to bring a political rebellion that will "decimate policy-making for a generation." (He thinks the actual current "alternative" being pursued is "Incoherent & Internecine."