LIving a full life

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal,  I just found Greg Mankiw's blog.  Mankiw is an economics professor at Harvard.  In addition to discussions of economics, he has a list of links to topics such as "Advice for Junior Faculty".  Mankiw has a sense of humor!  Most refreshing in a professor.  His advice is excellent:  live to do research and publish papers.  Have no friends or family unless they will publish with you.  Above all, avoid having children!  He then goes on to indicate what might happen at the Pearly Gates.  Priceless.

My fellow faculty members ask how I can possibly have taken the time to learn to fly.  As doing so has had, if anything, a salient effect on my career, the question leaves me non-plussed.  The only possible answer is, "I made the time."  That is the key to being successful and still living one's dreams, or having a family, or whatever else you need to do to become a whole person and not just a brain.  

Of course, if your ambitions are to be the acknowledged very best at what you do, to be on the Time 100-people-to-watch list, to be a "widely cited expert", or whatever you consider to be the pinnacle of success, by all means go for it.  But then again, you might not make it, and then where will you be?  Do well, work hard, and have fun, and you never know where you'll end up.  You might be surprised.

Sarah Palin--you go, girl!

Like a lot of people, I was surprised when I heard Sarah Palin was stepping down.  But after hearing her speech, I get it completely.  She's accomplished what she set out to accomplish in Alaska, she's got a shot at a bigger stage that might not be so powerful if she waits until the end of her term, she's got some strongly held beliefs, and she's seeing a chance to have an impact on those issues she cares most about.  It's been a hoot listening to the pundits who just....don't....get....it.

Watch out, world!  I think Sarah's going to be around for a long time holding the nation to its ideals the same way she held Letterman accountable.  Woo hoo!

health care--Obama trapped

As he pushed through the stimulus package so quickly Congress did not have a chance to read it, Obama is now trying to push through changes in health care, which the pundits are saying makes up 1/6th of the nation's budget.  It's been pretty interesting watching the knots he's tying himself in to satisfy all his constituents.  So far, he's not succeeding very well.

In a speech to the AMA, he said he "understands" the constraints put on doctors by concerns about malpractice suits, and acknowledges that they do a lot of testing they might not otherwise do as "defensive medicine", one of the practices that makes our system so cumbersome and expensive.  As the doctors started to cheer, though, he stopped them and, without really saying so, also hinted that tort reform is off of the table.  So Obama is trapped between the doctors represented by the AMA (about 1/3 of US doctors, and arguably the more liberal 1/3) and trial lawyers.  How can he satisfy both?

At the same time, many members of his own party are digging in their heels because of the cost.  He's promising to have the CBO estimated $1T paid for with cost-savings by increasing efficiencies (i.e., less defensive medicine, among other things), but, well, see the previous paragraph for how that's working out.

Another idea he's thrown out is to pay for it by taxing health benefits above a certain minimum, i.e., targeting employer supported health insurance.  But some of the richest such plans are the ones the unions benefit from, and Sen. Dodd, for one, has pretty well scotched that idea.  

Then there are the hospitals--yet another idea he's thrown out is reduced payments to hospitals.  They are already stressed, having already faced cuts from Medicare and HMOs.

So, hospitals, doctors, unions, lawyers, other Democrats:  all pulling in different directions.

Gee, what a surprise!

CAVU

I don't know about you, but I like to try to go to original sources before listening to the pundits, so I searched for a transcript of Obama's speech (no way was I getting up at 0300 to hear it live). I found a transcript on a Muslim blog, here. I didn't agree with everything, but it was a pretty good speech; my biggest concern was the part about Israel and the Palestinians, but that has been/is/will be such quagmire that I don't think anyone can really say anything sensible about it.  

He mentions 9/11 at the beginning, and I don't think he pulled his punches in presenting the effect of that event on this country. I didn't see a hint of apology anywhere, and he never mentioned Bush or even the previous administration. The closest he came was a very oblique reference to the mistakes in Iraq, but that was adjacent to a statement that the Iraqis are better off without Saddam Hussein, which surprised me. He defended democracy.  

All in all, it was a very pretty speech. I just wish I were convinced that he will be as strong an advocate for some of the principles as he sounded. And I was put off by the kumbaya-one world bits, but that probably plays well elsewhere and I would have been shocked if that weren't a strong theme.

Supremes

Hey, all you folks who voted for Obama because you bought that he would be a centrist:  How are you feeling now?

Sotomayor is a radical.  Actually, there's some common sense in some of  her statements/decisions, but there's a lot more that is definitely odd.  But all the arguments about her aside, if she has had so many decisions overturned by the Supreme Court, shouldn't that be a clue?  That includes one that was rejected unanimously, including by that exemplar of liberal judicial interpretation, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  This does not bespeak a legal powerhouse.

Prescience

It's been a bit of a hiatus, but CAVU has been overwhelmed by many things, not least the continuing outrages. It seems that every other day, Obama is announcing that he's asking for $1.5B for this and $600M for that. This is all, of course, on top of all the rest of the spending.

I will give Obama credit, however, for deciding not to release the photos of prisoner abuse at Guantánamo. Maybe he is realizing that he's president now, and no longer a candidate.

And there's been no point on commenting on Nancy Pelosi's self-bondage--everyone else has been commenting. What fun it has been!

But I had to share this, which was posted in a web forum. It is a cartoon made by (presumably) some college students 50 years ago. It's funny, and done in the style of Loony Toon cartoons of the time, but also very scary.

Link.

Food for thought.

Susan Boyle--exemplar of what is right about the world

OK, maybe I'm a sap, but if I am, there are millions like me. I just can't get over that episode of "Britain's Got Talent" with Susan Boyle. That whole clip is just so uplifting. It is SO easy to become depressed about the state of the world, then out of nowhere comes this frumpy Scottish woman who, at middle age, throws herself to the sharks to get a chance to sing for the world. And the sharks are transformed into worshipful lambs as she proves herself to have a voice from the angels.

On the chance you've been living on Mars and haven't yet heard this, invest a few minutes. You will not regret it.

Here it is.