Perino: "No terrorist attack during Bush's term."

Yes, the history books will show that 9-11 and the anthrax attacks happened under Bill Clinton.

Stafford: "I can throw the ball..."

"...if you need me to throw the ball." (at 4:30 on the video).

Remember this kid is 21 years old. I think Detroit has found their Hula Blue Jesus.

Sarah Palin Whines to Oprah

Boo- fucking -hoo. Palin's kids are off limits!! Except when she purposely inserts them into controversial political and social discussions.



Bristol tells Greta Vansusteren all about abstinence and birth control.

Piper is a Superstar of the anti-abortion movement.

Whether you like Obama or not, his kids are not used as tools to promote his political aspirations or social agenda.

And can someone tell Ms. Palin that, ever since Nixon, whiners don't become president.

Ticonderoga #2 and #3 Pencils

Ayn Rand: The bitch is back

Barry Ritholtz discusses the GQ story.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/ayn-rand-the-bitch-is-back/

Sarah Palin "Going Rogue"

She's such a bad-ass. (Isn't it a bit weird that she named her book after the line written and popularized by comedienne Tina Fey?)

The remarkable thing about the pre-publication buzz is the willingness of McCain operatives to go on record with their disdain. If these folks regarded her as politically viable, I don't think they'd be distancing themselves from her. These are not anonymous statements; they are on record.

Former McCain strategist John Weaver slammed Palin for using the book for “petty and pathetic” score-settling.

“Sarah Palin reminds me of Jimmy Stewart in the movie 'Harvey,' complete with imaginary conversations. All books like these are revisionist and self-serving, by definition,” Weaver wrote in an email to POLITICO. “But the score-settling by someone who wants to be considered a serious national player is petty and pathetic.”

“The problem wasn't who her interview was with, the problem was her interview,” he added. “Couric asked no trick questions."

Since We May Never See Lou Dobbs Again...

Let's watch the old clip from Estaben Colberto.... Giganteeeeee!

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Feldstein and the Loophole in Healthcare

Martin Feldstein has a long history of being full of shit, so I have little doubt his recent op-ed in the Washington Post is riddled with inaccuracies. Frankly, I've been a bit busy lately and have not read through the entire 1990 pages of the current House bill, but Feldstein claims that forgoing health insurance would be cost effective for most Americans because the House bill contains a provision whereby the uninsured can purchase a policy after-the-fact of becoming ill or injured. On it's face this sounds preposterous, but that's what he said and the Washington Post published.

The debate about health care has contained so much bullshit from its opponents that my reaction is to disbelieve everything that is said by them. Obviously, financial interests by the health insurers and pharmaceutical companies have spent lavishly to lobby against this bill, but I could certainly envision the possibility that a gaping loophole was left. If Feldstein, "an independent outside director for Eli Lilly", is lying on this-- as he was in July-- then he and the editorial board WaPo should all be castrated and the bill sent to their respective insurance companies.

Ritholtz lays into Buffett

Barry Ritholtz seems a little annoyed at the folksy Oracle of Omaha. I gagged after the third of fourth time I heard Buffett's narrative of his recent railroad purchase. "I had my assistant take me over to the office and the purchase took about 15 minutes." Aw shucks. (Some of the comments on Ritholtz' site are priceless.)

Stewart channels Beck

Perfect! Jon Stewart in a tour de force performance captures the essence of Glenn Beck's cognitive dissonance and narcissism. The nations's court jester has been knocking on the door of perfection for quite a while, and now he has made it through. Unless you watch the Beckmeister the value of this skit may be lost, but the only thing missing was the red phone. Whoever said that comedic material would be lacking after Bush left the White House never watched Fox News.

Is the US' infant mortality really that bad?

Short answer: No, actually we have probably the best perinatal health care in the world.

This story in the New York Times is just about the most misleading item I've read in a long time. The Skeptical OB has an excellent detailed review, but I'll list the salient points.

When comparing infant mortality in the US vs Europe:

1. The US has a higher population of women of African descent which is an independent risk factor for pre-term birth.

2. Other countries often do not count extremely premature infants in their mortality statisitics.

3. The numbers do not correct for multiple births (twins, triplets, etc.) due to assisted reproductive technologies, which are used more widely in the US.

These are fatal flaws when comparing the US infant mortality to other developed nations. One odd comment by the statistician conducting the survey, Dr. Marian MacDormand, who said that "the strong role prematurity played came as a surprise to her." Huh? Prematurity has been recognized as by far the number one cause of infant mortality for, oh I don't know, the last 10,000 years.

Another oddity is the willingness of the medical director of the March of Dimes, Dr. Alan Fleischman, to throw the "US health system" under the bus, calling these findings an "indictment" of the poor way in which we care for women and children. I'm the first to say that the US health care system needs an overhaul, but not because of any incompetence of our perinatal services.

In fact, the issues of limited access that have adverse effects on overall US health care are almost nonexistent in regards to prenatal care and perinatal services. State-run, federally-funded Medicaid sets the income requirement very leniently for pregnant women thus allowing all pregnant women access to timely care.

If one were to correct for the larger numbers of multiple gestations and premature births in the US and the higher percentage of women of African descent, in fact the highest in the developed world, the US may still have higher infant mortality, but I doubt it and it certainly isn't shown in this study.

One modifiable risk factor is the liberal use of artificial reproductive technologies in the United States, and perhaps governing bodies should emphasize the importance of reducing multiple gestations.

Cheney's Memory Deficiency

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Every time I see Dick Cheney I wonder why he isn't in jail, but then I understand the rule of law and the 5th Amendment, yada, yada, yada. Of course, the hundreds of detainees in Gitmo and other illegal centers have likely done far less damage to our republic than Mr. Cheney, yet were imprisoned with far less evidence against them.

The real question is why sociopaths like Cheney are accepted by the electorate composed of supposedly rational human beings... and I cannot help but think that this basic flaw in human nature, this allowance for truly criminal and destructive behavior in our leaders, will someday lead to the end of our species. I just hope it's more than forty years hence.

SPY: Wolfe Wave?

This is what keeps bears up at night: the appearance of a suspicious Wolfe Wave bullish pattern. I still remain net short, but this warrants close observation.

Sweetness

Nobody did it better than the great Walter Payton.

Glenn Beck fixes healthcare!

If anyone can find a more annoying person anywhere, please let me know so I can be sure to avoid him/her. I saw the headline so I figured, what the hell, maybe Beck has some good idea about health care reform. Wrong. Just the usual sarcastic bullshit.

This is the guy in high school who sat in front of me in trigonometry class, had the latest TI-30 calculator, wore a Tiger print nylon disco shirt with pocket protector, blew dry his hair straight back, bragged incessantly about his reel-to-reel tape player, gossiped about the student council president, worked on weekends as a wedding DJ... and he never ever shut his fucking mouth. I always wondered what on earth he'd do for a living and it turns out that Fox News has hired a whole bunch of these narcissistic trolls. Who knew?

Why I love Fox News...

Here's one reason:

They're shameless in their silliness.

A few years ago when they promoted illegal war and torture I pulled my hair out, now I just laugh.

Links to Drink By

Grab a beer... here's what I've been reading and watching:

If you see a dollar in the street, kill it.

All the lovely medical experts amongst us.

Look who says the Oath Keepers are *right*

Alan Grayson is the new star of the progressive left. Here's why. (discussion regards ACORN).

I suppose any job can put you to sleep.

The biggest f*&king reason to watch the World Series.

How did our oil get under their sand?

Frontline episode on the "dark market" (when you have an hour to spare)

Bartlett tries to educate Kudlow

Michael Jordan at Wrigley: Video

I've never seen this video, and it's one for the archive... let's hope it doesn't get deleted from You Tube. (hat tip Jon Bois)

It's got it all, a Sox-Cubs Exhibition Game matchup before interleague play in Major League Baseball. We have the legendary Sox and Cubs announcer Harry Carey interviewing Michael Jordan and later singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Also, note at the 4:30 mark: the White Sox line-up contains current Manager Ozzie Guillen and bench coach Joey Cora. The color commentator is none other than Cy Young Award winner Steve Stone who now does the same job for the White Sox. Jordan goes 2 for 5 with two RBI's.

Why we need health care reform NOW

Usually I eschew the dramatic and seek a more reasoned approach to any discussion. The passions of any theme will almost always lead away from a rational discussion... but this story is emblematic of the lunacy of our current health care "system", which really has no resemblance to a system at all. And as the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats scream to "slow down" health care reform, this story is even more poignant.

Kimberly "Kimi" Young (at left), a healthy 22-year-old recent college graduate, got the flu. She was sick with fever and upper respiratory symptoms but delayed treatment because she lacked health insurance and was concerned about the cost. After two weeks her condition worsened to the point her roommate took her to the hospital, where she subsequently died. Died of suspected swine flu.

Okay this is one tragic case and no conclusion about any large population can be drawn from one tiny example in a society of 300 million people.

A recent federally funded Harvard study estimates 45,000 Americans die each year from lack of health insurance. Yes, detractors will say these numbers are spurious even by the most objective analysts, and sure many of those deaths may be people who are already infirm, and yes there are probably many other problems with such a study, but the number is out there.

Even if this number of deaths is inaccurate, the costs of caring for people who live is higher when treatment is delayed. Even if Kimi were to have lived, her delayed treatment was certainly more expensive than the week's worth of oral antiviral Tamiflu that may have mitigated the criticality of her illness had it been administered early.

Americans who have comprehensive insurance or who never get sick just have no idea the insanity of the current US health care "system." Even people with high deductible insurance will ponder what to do when they feel ill. Whenever someone gets sick they sit down and think about whether to get treatment. Why?

No matter how much time an individual takes to think about it, they will never acquire the expertise to triage their medical condition and render the proper care. One 10-minute visit with a doctor or nurse practitioner, or even a phone call to the office nurse, can allay fears and frustrations, or may save thousands of dollars-- and in Kimi's case, maybe even save a life. By constructing hurdles based on financing, we are adding to the extant hurdles we all struggle with in pursuing medical care. Nobody "wants" to go to the doctor: to sit in the waiting room, to talk about their personal issues, to get undressed, maybe get poked with a needle, etc. So why add yet another burden like payment to the mix?

Kimi is gone, and while I hesitate to get all dramatic over this one case, it is a tragedy which was avoidable. A waste... not only for this young woman and her family and friends, but for all of us. Thinking selfishly, we must consider that we will never benefit from the expertise of this college graduate, a seemingly wonderful and productive member of our society. She is gone forever, and all because of the relatively tiny cost of health insurance.

So when you hear Congress debating issues that have long been debated, and calling to table the current health care reform bills, think of the 4,000 people who die needlessly every month, think of Kimi.