Things might change if you stick around until Chinese New Year's, February 3, 2011, which begins the Year of the Rabbit. Then you'll see dogs disappear, quick like a rabbit. At least they used to. But perhaps there's instability in the dog world.

As predicted, we are chillin' about the health care reform.

It's kind of funny how when you go to the doctor now, the doc doesn't send you off to a death panel for a sore throat! We were so sure that strep meant summary execution! And those stitches -- do it yourself or die!!! And the doctor you saw last year would not be allowed to see you this year as people would HAVE to change doctors.....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/29/AR2010072900004.html?hpid=topnews

And what's beautiful about this is that the 'pubs REALLY hate the law while the independents and dems are doing ok on it.

What's a 'pub to do in a campaign? You realize what they've done to themselves!?? They HAVE to campaign on a pro-repeal line, but they can't win the general on that line. Gotta love the Tea Party for this gift!

Slowly it's going to dawn on people, I hope, that the Republican party has boxed itself in so tightly by playing to the basest instincts of its base, to the O'Reilly/Limbaugh/Beck faction, to the racist wing, that it cannot convince the rest of the electorate AND keep the rabies flowing.

On immigration, not only has the Republican party completely lost the Latino vote, they have also compromised the business vote -- business wants cheap labor pouring in over the borders, but the racist right wants the brown-skinned masses gone. What's an employer to do?

The Repubs in Congress won't support comprehensive reform that would set up some legalized second-class status for immigrant labor because the Repubs in Congress think they can avoid giving Obama anything like a "victory."

Epic fail.

In some individual races, anti-incumbency might rule, and in some races money will help. But we're learning that money isn't everything in races (let's see how well Fiorna, Whitman, and the insurance guy Rick Scott (gov, Fla) do). And incumbency is still pretty damned potent.

The GOP is twisting itself into an actual knot as opposed to a tangle.

It will take a knife to cut the mess apart.

(At least in my opinion.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/us/29border.html?hp

"The Pima County morgue is running out of space as the number of Latin American immigrants found dead in the deserts around Tucson has soared this year during a heat wave.

The rise in deaths comes as Arizona is embroiled in a bitter legal battle over a new law intended to discourage illegal immigrants from settling here by making it a state crime for them to live or seek work.

But the law has not kept the immigrants from trying to cross hundreds of miles of desert on foot in record-breaking heat. The bodies of 57 border crossers have been brought in during July so far, putting it on track to be the worst month for such deaths in the last five years.

Since the first of the year, more than 150 people suspected of being illegal immigrants have been found dead, well above the 107 discovered during the same period in each of the last two years. The sudden spike in deaths has overwhelmed investigators and pathologists at the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office. Two weeks ago, Dr. Parks was forced to bring in a refrigerated truck to store the remains of two dozen people because the building’s two units were full.

“We can store about 200 full-sized individuals, but we have over 300 people here now, and most of those are border crossers,” Dr. Parks said. “We keep hoping we have seen the worst of this, of these migration deaths. Yet we still see a lot of remains.”

....
"These tougher enforcement measures have pushed smugglers and illegal immigrants to take their chances on isolated trails through the deserts and mountains of southern Arizona, where they must sometimes walk for three or four days before reaching a road. "

.....

"If no documents are found, the task becomes harder. Many of the deceased immigrants were too poor to have visited doctors or dentists on a regular basis, so no dental or medical records may not exist. Sometimes, a family photograph of the deceased smiling widely is all investigators have to document dental work.

On a recent morning, Bruce Anderson, the forensic anthropologist in the office, was examining the skeleton of an adolescent boy, whose age was somewhere between 14 and 17. His mummified remains were found on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation west of Tucson on July 15. The only lead to his identity was a missing front tooth and the neighboring teeth crowded together in the space.

Dr. Anderson called the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, who had a report of a 13-year-old who had been reported missing this year after crossing the border near Sonoyta, Mexico.

The charity immediately contacted the boy’s family to see if he had lost a permanent tooth. Dr. Anderson was still waiting for a reply. "

Horsepucky on health care.

First of all, the WaPo is cherry-picking a minor poll on the new mandatory medical insurance issue claiming that fifty percent of the public holds a favorable view of the law,. The RCP average, much more reliable, is 38% for, 50% against, as it has been for some time.

The bill isn't even effective until after Obama gets re-elected (god, I hope not) so nobody really knows.

Just wait (four years) 'til young people start getting hit with penalties, excuse me, "excise taxes" for not buying insurance they don't need, and companies get hit with penalties for not buying the right insurance for their employees and react by firing all their employees and moving to Canada, and those same companies get hit for not getting vouchers from their vendors every time they buy something, inextricably also part of the bill, etc etc. starting in 2014, if it's not repealed.

Maybe everything we needed to know we REALLY learned in kindergarten!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/economy/28leonhardt.html?src=me&ref=general

Maybe we should move to a two year kindergarten system with an option for a two year first grade as well.

Give the kids who start a bit behind some space to catch up. Give those stuck with weaker teachers an extra couple of chances to compensate.

Slow down early childhood just a bit.

Tort reform in Texas saves...
not much at all, actually. Malpractice premiums did indeed go down. But health premiums went up up up....

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/jlanders/stories/DN-Landers_21bus.State.Edition1.9be351.html

Something about how it's too early to tell, that defensive medical practices are learned early. So I guess in a generation we'll see if tort reform is the answer we've all been looking for.

Got this from a kos diary on Perry's claim that Tx has the best health care in the country (ONLY 25% uninsured -- woohoo!)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/29/888714/-Perry-Calls-Texas-46th-Ranked-Health-System-Best-in-U.S.

Funny how some "obvious" solutions don't work sometimes.

The world's a funny place that way.

http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/

Look up your county and see where you are in terms of health outcomes compared to your state.

A link from a kos diary commenter.

Start getting ready to figure out how you'll cope, Don, because Obama likely will be re-elected. Even Charles Krauthammer realizes it. And who on earth would you suggest from among viable contenders? Some Republican? The only independents who would make good presidents can't win, and likely wouldn't run. Lincoln Chaffee comes immediately to mind. Another worthy independent is Bernie Sanders, but too many Americans would go ballistic. Libertarians are incapable of governing, because they believe even less than W did in governing. They are excellent on two counts: their opposition to military adventurism and occupation, and fidelity to the Bill of Rights. A friend who died a few years back was Libertarian champion of medical marijuana, and for that he earned my great admiration. I would put a Libertarian in charge of federal drug policies, but there again too many people would go ballistic.

Anyway, I hold just the opposite hope, and I wear my Obama cap every day, especially when I go into Home Depot, Lowe's, or the grocery store. Down here in Florida I frequently wear it Southern style - backwards - which came into being to keep one's cap from blowing off. While I share very few views with my redneck fellow Southerners, it is fun to make them look at an Obama cap being worn Southern-style by a native Southerner.

Hope your wish is not granted, and mine is.