Columnists

THE PUBLIC EYE: Defending Obamacare: 5 Basics

By Bob Burnett
Friday July 06, 2012 - 01:42:00 PM

The June 28th Supreme Court decision that let “Obamacare” stand gives the President, and all Democrats, an opportunity to re make the case that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a good thing. That’s a blessing because many American voters do not understand Obamacare.

The most recent USA Today/Gallup Poll finds Americans evenly split on Obamacare with 46 percent agreeing with the Supreme court decision, 46 percent disagreeing, and eight percent unsure. While Democrats and Republicans divided along Party lines, a slight plurality (45 percent) of Independents approved the ruling.

Nonetheless, many of those who say they do not like Obamacare do not understand it. An April Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking Poll found that only 51 percent of respondents believed they had enough information about how the law would affect them personally. However, when asked their opinion about specific provisions of the law – “the law will prohibit insurance companies from charging women higher premiums than men” – typically a strong majority approved. When voters understand Obamacare they like it. (Even Republicans.)

President Obama, and all Democrats, needs to do a better job of conveying the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Here are 5 points to remember: -more-


ECLECTIC RANT: Teenagers and Social Media

By Ralph E. Stone
Friday July 06, 2012 - 01:46:00 PM

Think back to your teenage years. How did you normally communicate? Back in the Dark Ages when I was a teenager, I communicated with my peers face-to-face, by telephone, passing the occasional note in class, and reluctantly, by writing a letter. How do today's teenagers communicate in the digital age? One difference, of course, is that today's "private" communication exchanges can often be seen by the whole world, allowing the chance to comment on the exchange, and creating a permanent record of the exchange. -more-


AGAINST FORGETTING: The 'Obamacare' Challenge to American Individualism

By Ruth Rosen
Friday July 06, 2012 - 11:05:00 AM

Early in the morning, half awake, I heard my husband let out a whooping cheer from somewhere in the house. “I can’t believe it,” he kept saying. Like most of my friends, he—a Director of Public Health— was sure the Supreme Court would never uphold the patient Affordable Care Act (ACA), President’s Barack Obama’s signature effort of his years in office. -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Sneaky Delusions

By Jack Bragen
Friday July 06, 2012 - 10:54:00 AM

As a man who suffers from psychosis, at this point, my illness is under control to the extent that I can go months without having very many "delusional" thoughts. -more-


WILD NEIGHBORS:Wandering Eyes

By Joe Eaton
Friday July 06, 2012 - 11:33:00 AM
California halibut: Eyes right! Or is it "Eyes left?"

If you’re ever tempted to take the notion of intelligent design seriously, consider the flounder.

Or the halibut, or the sole (Dover, rex, or petrale), or the small but tasty sanddab. Any member of the Order Pleuronectiformes will do. All living species of flatfish start out life as normal, bilaterally symmetrical bony fish, with one eye on each side of their bodies. Then as they mature, one eye migrates around to join its partner. The side with the eyes becomes the top side; the eyeless side, on which the fish rests on the substrate, the bottom. Sometimes, as in the sanddabs, both eyes wind up on the fish’s left side; sometimes, as in typical soles, flounders, turbots, and the Pacific halibut, on the right. California halibuts swing both ways. In some species the skin of the eyeless side loses its pigment, becoming fish-belly white; the eyed side has a camouflaging pattern that can change to match its surroundings. -more-


SENIOR POWER: Get out of the house!

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Friday July 06, 2012 - 01:27:00 PM

It is critically important that senior citizens get out of the house. Aging is not for sissies. -more-