The War on Drug Savings

Last updated on: February 24, 2004 at 12:51 am By Fred Clark

Michigan and Vermont figured out a way to save money on the cost of prescription drugs purchased by those state's Medicaid programs. By joining together to increase their buying power, the two states were able to negotiate lower prices for the medicines they purchased. The Bush administration seems to think reducing the cost of prescription drugs is a bad thing: The Bush administration rejected a program that saved Michigan and Vermont millions of dollars by allowing them to negotiate jointly... Read more

Cause and effect

Last updated on: February 23, 2004 at 8:28 pm By Fred Clark

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So in this story you're the principal of an elementary school. Mikey, one of your students, comes running into your office, visibly upset. You ask him what's the matter. Mikey tells you that one of the other students, George, beat up his little sister as part of a racket in which he's been stealing lunch money from the first graders. "I hate that guy," Mikey says, looking like he means it. "He oughtta be expelled." So you send Mikey back... Read more

The Stranger

Last updated on: September 5, 2012 at 3:53 pm By Fred Clark

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The stranger takes a wrong turn in the maze of corridors in the basement of the library. He hears voices ahead and rounds the corner to find a room full of people engaged in a discussion. The stranger takes a seat and asks what everyone is talking about down here. It's a book discussion group on David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest someone tells him. The group is on its third reading of the book and they're pretty far along —... Read more

Out, out

Last updated on: February 22, 2004 at 8:19 pm By Fred Clark

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I was working on a post about the confusion of cause and effect among those who dislike my dislike for the incumbent president. Then I read this: Spot, President Bush's brown-and-white English springer spaniel, died Saturday. She would have been 15 next month. … The White House announced that Spot had a series of strokes recently, including one last week. Spot's veterinarian recommended that she be put to sleep, and the first family followed that advice Saturday. That sucks. The... Read more

Greenbacks

Last updated on: February 22, 2004 at 5:41 pm By Fred Clark

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Despite Tina Fey's warning ("stay home nerd") it appears the Bush/Nader ticket will be running again in 2004. Sigh. What to do except for to re-post excerpts from this Mother Jones interview with Tony Kushner: I have said this before, and I'll say it again: Anyone that the Democrats run against Bush, even the appalling Joe Lieberman, should be a candidate around whom every progressive person in the United States who cares about the country's future and the future of... Read more

NASCAR and populism (cont’d.)

Last updated on: February 22, 2004 at 3:27 am By Fred Clark

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Bryan Curtis has an interesting Slate item providing some historical context for politicians making populist appeals via sports (focusing on the dark side of populism). And Ellen Goodman notes that President Bush's campaign stop at the Daytona 500 was officially regarded as some kind of policy event — so it and the Air Force One flyover get billed to the taxpayer and not the Bush campaign. The so-called "NASCAR Dad" isn't as easy to pigeonhole as pundits and pols seem... Read more

“Not Everyone Was Wrong”

Last updated on: September 5, 2012 at 3:50 pm By Fred Clark

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"The sanctions exist … for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. … And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors." — Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 24, 2001 "We are able to keep his arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt." — National Security Advisor Condoleezza... Read more

Fool’s (Sher)Gold

Last updated on: September 5, 2012 at 3:48 pm By Fred Clark

45 Comments

No doubt you also have some earnest-but-naive friend/acquaintance who fills your inbox with multi-forwarded e-mails concerning various urban legends — dire warnings about toilet-dwelling spiders or kidney thieves, or morality plays warning against unnatural acts involving peanut butter and household pets. Usually I just delete these, but if I'm in one of my rare patient moods, I may reply, referring my friend to the appropriate pages at Snopes.com. This usually gets my friend oddly miffed. Instead of responding with relief... Read more

The Tragic Alibi

Last updated on: February 19, 2004 at 5:07 am By Fred Clark

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A common plot device in old noir movies is the tragic alibi. The falsely accused antihero can't defend himself because admitting what he was actually up to might be even worse. So, for instance, he faces a false murder charge because he can't divulge his only alibi — he was sleeping with the police chief's wife at the time of the killing. I was reminded of this while reading Kevin Drum's excellent summary of the inconsistencies and gaps in President... Read more

NASCAR and populism

Last updated on: February 16, 2004 at 3:33 pm By Fred Clark

7 Comments

This story offers some statistics on NASCAR's fanbase in a sidebar. These figures come from NASCAR itself, and they may reflect a bit of the PR concerns of racing officials. It's possible that NASCAR fans really do split 60/40 male/female. But since NASCAR, like the NFL, is campaigning to draw more female fans, it's also possible that this number reflects a bit of wishful thinking. (Although unlike the NFL, NASCAR is open to female participation.) With that caveat, the numbers... Read more

Who stopped the sun from setting during a battle?