Dumping: Why Hospitals Continue to Abandon their Homeless Patients

by Nomad

The problem of hospital's dumping homeless patients back on the street is a shame for the nation.

The practice of homeless dumping has been for some time now a shame of the national healthcare system. Nobody is very much surprised that it happens. In a system where money outranks almost other considerations, priorities can pretty regularly become warped by the profit margin. The penniless and homeless simply aren't worth the expense of adequate healthcare when the chief aim is to make a return on investment. 

That's the harsh reality of privatized healthcare. 

In numerous incidents, hospital employees and/or emergency services  have been caught releasing back to the streets otherwise homeless patients who may be in need of expensive medical care. These patients should have been placed in shelters or in some kind of adequate facility. The street is the last place for them, for their sake's and for the sake of general public health.

Science, Evolution and The Magical Thinking of Dr. Ben Carson

by Nomad

Ben Carson's remarks on evolution may seem extraordinary for such an educated person. In fact, there's a very good explanation for his backward way of thinking.

A Relatively Modern Science Concept

This week, scientists at National Academy of Sciences in Washington have released a new version of the tree of life. 

The graphic shows everything science knows about the relationship of all living things on the planet. With the inclusion of 2.3 million species the graphic is the most complete of its kind.

As complete as it is, it is far from finished. With an estimated 8.7 million of species today, (that doesn't include the species that have gone extinct) there are still quite a lot of blank spaces to fill in the record.

One of the aspects of Darwin's theory of evolution was that all life -including humankind- is related and originated from the same primitive organisms. That every living thing, from microbes to fungus to giraffes, on the planet ultimately share a common ancestor. 

In some ways, it's a really ethereal idea which helps us find our place in the larger scheme of things. Our uniqueness as a life form comes in our knowing that place.

As one source explains:

The history of living things is documented through multiple lines of evidence that converge to tell the story of life through time.

Researcher Douglas Soltis of the University of Florida said:

"As important as showing what we do know about relationships, this first tree of life is also important in revealing what we don't know."

It's hard to find a better statement that better represents what science is really all about. Amid and in contrast to all of this marvelous science showing us the miraculous story of how life began, there was in the same week a video of Dr. Carson and his view of evolution. 

Carson on Newton

Before nodding spectators, Dr. Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Republican Presidential hopeful, expounded on his views about creationism vs. evolution at the conference called Celebration of Creation.

In Their World, Everything was Terrific in 2008

by Nomad

I am not sure how much more clearly you could put it than that.

Echo from the Suffrage: Twelve Reasons Why Women Should Vote

by Nomad

Here's an public ad for universal suffrage from the 1920s.

This list makes so much sense and yet, even today so many women voters stay at home.
  

1. Because those who obey the laws should help to choose those who make the laws.
2. Because laws affect women as much as men.
3. Because laws which affect women are now passed without consulting them. 
4. Because  laws affecting Children should include the woman's point of view as well as the man's.
5. Because laws affecting the home are voted on in every session of the legislature.
6. Because women have experience which would be helpful to legislation.
7. Because to deprive women of the vote is to lower their position in the common estimation. 
8. Because having the vote would increase the sense of responsibility among women toward questions of public importance.
9. Because public spirited mothers make public spirited sons.
10. Because about 8,000,000 women in the United States are wage workers, and the conditions under which they work are controlled by the law. 
11. Because the objections against their having the vote are based on prejudice, not on reason.
12. Because to sum up all reasons in one-- it is for the common good of all. 

A Question of Qualifications: A Closer Look at Carly Fiorina

by Nomad

When it comes to GOP candidates, like Donald Trump and Ben Carson, isn't it fair to ask: what kind of minimum qualifications necessary to be the Republican nominee in 2016? 

In the case of Carly Fiorina, her only qualification is her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. That's actually a liability.

When Carly Fiorina announced her decision to be a Republican candidate for 2016, many insiders questioned her thin qualifications to become president of the United States. 

For the better-informed voter or former HP employees, it was perhaps startling to hear point to her corporate business history as evidence.

Why?

It was exactly that subject - her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 1999 to 2005 that her Democratic opponent, Barbara Boxer, used against her in the 2010 California Senate race. It proved to be more than enough to make voters think twice about Fiorina.

Putting aside the particular details of the Fiorina business history, we need to be asking: 

Is running a corporation really the same as being president?     

Certainly any successful venture is something a candidate could legitimately point out. Indeed, management skills required overlap to some degree. 

However,  there are some crucial differences too.