Thursday, March 18, 2010

Health-Care Reform: A Brief Summary

Hey, what’s up?

Back in August, the rationale for opposing health-care reform for some Americans was comedically bad. Many accused Obama baselessly for promoting “death-squads” and for creating a socialist government. I wrote a blog-post about the irrationality in such reasoning (look at those comments!). In the seven months that followed, the rationales against health-care reform have improved dramatically and are far more reasonable.

Still, most people, like myself, have not been able to keep up with the changes with this controversial bill. In a nutshell, the country spends 2 billion on health care and 46 million people remain uninsured. Obama’s health-care bill intends to address this issue.

The main point of controversy comes with the proposal of a government-run insurance-plan. Such a plan would compete against private insurance companies. This increased competition would force private companies to be more honest to vie for consumer attention. At the same time, competition from the government threatens to damage economic freedom and threatens to infringe on the liberty of citizens. In addition, opponents of health-care reform state that the exorbitant price of launching a government option will call for increased taxes. 

The government’s official site for Healthcare reform can be found at: http://www.healthreform.gov/ . Support whichever organization, for or against healthcare reform, you want.

Monday, March 8, 2010

CTY’s Imagine Issue on Philosophy

Hey readers, what’s up?

Some of my older readers might know that in summer of 2008, I was at CTY’s CAA Summer Camp taking an introductory philosophy course. The Center for Talented Youth, the organization behind the program, puts out a bi-monthly periodical called Imagine aimed at teenagers. IMG_5017

They recently published a fantastic issue on philosophy deserving the attention of all readers of this blog. It can be viewed at  http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/imagine/20100304_SFF/#/0. In it, you’ll find an expanse of articles and essays written by young students on the study as well as university funded summer-programs and academic competitions for philosophy.

Check out the e-book and enjoy. Its a good read. In case you want to skip the articles and essays and get right to philosophical opportunities and resources, click on this link.

Until we meet again. Cheers!

Kevin

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Sunday Sites 56

Hey there,

I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get a new blog post up last week. I was occupied with school and sports commitments, so I was unable to write.

I’ve compiled a significantly more substantial set of links this week. Enjoy.

http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=7830237130 With the flux of new users with Facebook’s increase in popularity, we have seen far more arbitrary and annoying fan-pages. Younger users spread rumors around as well as fear of charges. This is a message from admins regarding such untrue claims.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1217;_ylt=AljjKBCaRI1gjnyepEwUBm.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNqNGphajNkBGFzc2V0A3luZXdzLzIwMTAwMzA0L3luZXdzX3RzMTIxNwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzYEcG9zAzMEcHQDaG9tZV9jb2tlBHNlYwN5bl9oZWFkbGluZV9saXN0BHNsawNsZWFrZWRkb2N1bWU- Leaded Documents reveal GOP Plan to use scare-tactics to raise money (Nothing new here for either the GOP or the Democratic Party)

http://ds.ign.com/articles/107/1072596p1.html An appreciation of video-games, how electronic entertainment gave some of us something to hold on to in times of strife. A good read.

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/facebookusers.htm OSU study finds link between Facebook use and lower grades in college

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/finalfantasy13/forum.html?board_id=m-1-928790&pid=928790 We Didn't Start the Flame War