(no subject)

Most links are via Salon and may require one ad to get through for the day. The rest are NY Times.

Nevada has passed a law allowing same-sex domestic partnerships many of the same rights as marriage. Not as good as gay marriage, no, but they have the unfortunate one-man-one-woman marriage law on the books. This, however, skirts around it. And the Legislature overrode the Governor's veto. I believe someone much younger than me might say, "Mad props to my peeps in the Nevada Senate, yo!" I, alas, am sadly lacking in current slang but I share the sentiment.

Japan has issued an official apology for the Bataan Death March back during World War II. Well, at least they were faster than the Catholic Church and Galileo.

There was some very sad news today in Kansas - a Dr. Tiller, one of the few doctors to provide safe late-term abortions for women who needed one, was murdered in his church yesterday. A former leader of Planned Parenthood says this should be described as domestic terrorism. I think she's right. Maybe some of those right-wing nutballs who call themselves Christians might not like being held to the same standard as, say, law-abiding Muslims. Hey, at least the law-abiding Muslims actually keep up to the standard.

The USA might see normalized relations with Cuba, not just in my lifetime, but possibly within a year or two. No clue what Fidel says about this, but maybe he decided he wants to do some barn-burning at Fenway Park before he passes on.

thnidu, this one's for you: apparently some of language is genetic. At least mice say so.

Time perhaps for some sleep. May June be a great month for everybody here.

(no subject)

A sobering look at current US health care. Oddly enough, a number of places with the best quality health care have the lowest costs per capita. Or maybe not so oddly.

I highly suggest reading this. It talks less about public versus private insurance, more about results of profit-driven versus health-driven health care. I think, ideally, I would like public funded health care for lowest administrative costs; and health-driven health care for both moral and financial reasons - again, it seems to be lowest cost.

Considerably more people in the US die from lack of solid health care every year than died during one incident on a particularly nasty day back, oh, eight years. I've heard lots of jabber about that one day and one incident from a lot of the chattering classes. I hear about health care for all in the mainstream media with any degree of seriousness usually only shortly after a Democrat gets elected into the White House.

I wonder what might happen if everybody sent physical letters to their congresscritters on that date, aside from give the Post Office its operating profit for the year, I mean. Supposedly somewhere around 60% of the population wants single-payer; I think even more would want health-based health care. I wonder what they would do with 180 million physical, dead-tree letters. Aside from grow more trees. They couldn't explain it away. They couldn't spin it to say the public wants something else.

I could write a few templates. People could use them or not.

*looks a little shy*

Anybody with me? he said tremulously.