Welcome growth of Medicaid expansion

In their rearguard struggle against what they view as ‘socialized medicine’, Republicans vigorously fought to thwart the Affordable Care Act introduced by president Barack Obama that enabled many formerly uninsured people to get much needed health insurance, even though it was very much a capitalist plan, similar to one introduced by Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts. A real socialist plan would be a government-run single-payer plan which I hope will eventually be put in place. As part of their campaign against it, they derisively called it Obamacare but Obama and Democrats have embraced the name. Now that it has become popular, it will be hard for Republicans to do a switch and claim it for their own.

Despite multiple attempts to repeal it even when they controlled Congress, those attempts failed because Republicans simply had nothing to offer to put in its place. They similarly opposed what is known as ‘Medicare expansion’, a program largely funded by the federal government that would have enabled more low-income people to enroll in the Medicaid program that provides access to health care. That program is run by the states and states with Republican governors and legislatures refused to accept the program, since they do not give a damn about the needs of poor people and were determined to stop anything proposed by Obama that did not benefit the rich. But there were other consequences to blocking the program, one of which was that many hospitals in remote areas shut down because they could no longer get Medicaid funding for treating their poor patients. Since rural areas tend to be Republican, these states were hurting themselves and have belatedly slowly started accepting Medicaid expansion, with North Carolina being the latest, that will allow about 600,000 people in the state greater access to health care.
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TV Review: Upstart Crow (2016-2018)

This very funny BBC comedy series that ran for three seasons of six episodes each (plus Christmas specials) is about William Shakespeare. The writer is Ben Elton and David Mitchell plays Shakespeare and is supported by an excellent cast. The action shifts between three locations: His home in Stratford-upon-Avon where his wife Anne, parents, and three children live, his lodgings in London that he shares with his servant Bottom, the landlady’s daughter Kate, and his friend Kit Marlowe, and the Globe theater in which Richard Burbage’s company performed his plays.

Each episode has allusions to at least one of his plays.

The first series follows the writing and preparation to stage Romeo and Juliet after William has gained some early career recognition for his poetry, as well as his plays Henry VI and Richard III. Events in each episode allude to one or more Shakespeare plays and usually end with Will discussing the events with Anne and either being inspired to use, or dissuaded from using, them in a future work. Along with the many Shakespearean references (including the use of asides and soliloquies) there are also several references to the television shows Blackadder and The Office. There are running gags in many episodes: the casual sexism towards Kate’s attempts to become an actress, Shakespeare’s coach journeys between London and Stratford which refer to modern motorway and railway journey frustrations, and are delivered in a style that references the 1970s sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Shakespeare (and in one episode Marlowe) demanding ale and pie from his servants or family, and Shakespeare frequently claiming credit for common turns-of-phrase that predate Elizabethan times (many of them now commonly misattributed to Shakespeare).

The series takes aim at classism, racism, nativism, and sexism and much of the humor stems from anachronistic references, where current controversies and issues are woven into those times. It also pokes fun at the length of his plays, their convoluted and often absurd plots, and the fact that Shakespeare had little compunction about using ideas for stories and language that he obtained from those around him and passing them off as his own. It also pokes fun at his elaborate metaphors.

As with many satires and parodies, it is funnier the more familiar you are with the source material, in this case Shakespeare’s life and plays. But so much of that have seeped into common knowledge that almost anyone should be able to enjoy this series.

Here is a compilation of some of the funny bits.

The puzzling strategy of Ron DeSantis

Conventional wisdom seems to be that Florida governor Ron DeSantis is planning to seek the Republican presidential nomination, and that he will announce his candidacy after the state’s legislative session ends in June. That many people think he will be a candidate is clear. About three months ago, I saw a neighbor walking her dog wearing a ‘DeSantis 2024’ sweatshirt. He seems to be acting like a prospective candidate, doing all the things that candidates do, like visiting early primary states such as Iowa, writing a book, and then going on a ‘book tour’ and giving interviews which is usually just a means of a candidate getting their name out to the public without actually making an announcement.

He has raised his profile nationally by pandering to the extreme right wing of his party,. He seems to have made being ‘anti-woke’, opposing covid regulations, and pandering to racists and anti-LGBT sentiment his main platform. He is clearly seeking to outflank Trump on that side, trying to give the impression to voters that they can have the full-bore Trump hate agenda without the Trump baggage. In this he is contrasting himself with other candidates who may want to appeal to those Republican primary voters who are weary of Trump and culture war issues and seek a fresh face.

I must admit that I am a little puzzled by his strategy, mainly the one of timing. Why challenge Trump for the 2024 nomination? DeSantis is setting himself up for a brutal battle and Trump has already started lashing out at him in his typical style, giving him nicknames and mocking him. Since DeSantis and Trump are competing for largely the same culture war-loving voters, and those people tend to be loyal to Trump, how can he win over those voters without attacking Trump? He seems to think that he can be Trump without all the Trump baggage, trying to obliquely bring up the latter’s legal woes by mentioning the issue of him paying hush money to a porn star.
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Jordan Klepper goes to the Trump protest

On Tuesday, he went to the site of the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Trump had called upon his supporters to protest his expected arrest (that never happened) by the DA and Klepper found that the crowd was estimated by the police to be between three and six people. But while the numbers may be far less than the crowd that Klepper met at Trump rallies, their looniness was undiminished.

The New War Between Science and Religion

As part of my process of posting my published articles here on my blog for easier access, here is one that was published in The Chronicle of Higher Education Review on May 9, 2010. Note that this was back in 2010 so the word ‘new’ may no longer be applicable. The editors of the magazine said that this article received one of the highest readerships that they had seen.

The New War Between Science and Religion

The Trump legal circus goes on and on

I have been avoiding much of the news about the possible indictments of Donald Trump because prosecutors’ offices tend to be pretty tight-lipped, so the constant speculation about if or when he will be indicted, by whom and for what, tends to be fact-free and thus of not much value. One might as well wait until something actually happens. But then last week Trump himself said that he expects to be indicted and also arrested on Tuesday by the Manhattan district attorney on the recommendation of the grand jury looking into his case and that caused a media frenzy. It is not clear if Trump had some inside source for this news or whether he was also guessing and simply trying to rally support in the event that he does get indicted soon.

Tuesday came and went with no indictment. Since the grand jury only meets on Mondays and Wednesday, that would make today the possible day. I do not how how the process works in detail but I would have thought that in complex, high-profile cases it would take at least a day or two after the grand jury ends its deliberations and delivers its verdict for the DA to prepare and file an indictment, so I would not expect anything today either.
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Timeshares are even worse than I thought

On the latest episode of his show Last week Tonight, John Oliver explains why timeshares (where one buys a period of time, say a week or so a year, on a property at a resort) is a terrible idea. He says that timeshares have been so widely ridiculed that pretty much everyone who bought one is now embarrassed that they got suckered into doing so. But they should also be skeptical of companies that say that they can get them out of their timeshares, for a fee of course, because they can be scams.

I was once staying at a hotel and was invited to attend a presentation in one of their hospitality suites with the promise of a free gift or lunch or something in return for sitting through a presentation. Such ‘free’ offers are always a warning sign and since I knew about timeshares, I declined. Besides, I couldn’t see the appeal of committing myself to go to the same place every year. But on another occasion my in-laws visiting the US went to Atlantic City. Being unaware of timeshares and this kind of pressure sales tactic, they succumbed to such an invitation and had to endure a long high-pressure sales pitch. My father-in-law finally managed to get away by repeatedly saying that he had to consult his son-in-law (me) before he could make any purchase. It was not true, of course but it worked to get the salesperson to finally let them go.

The people who lied us into the Iraq war

The Iraq war began twenty years ago. Jon Schwarz says that those who lied us into that disastrous war that led to the destruction of Iraq and neighboring countries have not faced any consequences. His review includes George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, John Bolton, Condoleeza Rice, David Frum, David Brooks, Jeffrey Goldberg, Judith Miller, and Joe Biden.

THE U.S. AND its allies invaded Iraq 20 years ago in Operation Iraqi Freedom. President George W. Bush’s press secretary Ari Fleischer twice accidentally referred to it as Operation Iraqi Liberation, which was definitely not its official name and would have generated an unfortunate acronym.

The men and women who launched this catastrophic, criminal war have paid no price over the past two decades. On the contrary, they’ve been showered with promotions and cash. There are two ways to look at this.

One is that their job was to make the right decisions for America (politicians) and to tell the truth (journalists). This would mean that since then, the system has malfunctioned over and over again, accidentally promoting people who are blatantly incompetent failures.

Another way to look at it is that their job was to start a war that would extend the U.S. empire and be extremely profitable for the U.S. defense establishment and oil industry, with no regard for what’s best for America or telling the truth. This would mean that they were extremely competent, and the system has not been making hundreds of terrible mistakes, but rather has done exactly the right thing by promoting them.

You can read this and then decide for yourself which perspective makes the most sense.

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