The Hunger Games

By Tom Kando

My wife and I went to see The Hunger Games. The movie is both gripping and disappointing.

First, what is this new blockbuster about? Well, it describes the dystopia which our society has become in the not-too-distant future. North America now consists of a dozen districts and a Capitol. The inequities and the contrast between the opulent plutocracy at the center and the decrepit, squalid and starving outlying districts are stark. In its Roman-like games-and-circuses policy aimed at anesthetizing the masses (think Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, here), the government randomly selects each year two young representatives from each district to participate in The Hunger Games.

Is The Individual Mandate on the Chopping Block?

by Madeleine Kando

Today the Supreme Court is going to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the Individual Mandate, that part of the New Health Care Law that requires everyone to have some type of insurance. If you don't have insurance, you will be fined.

26 states have filed lawsuits against the Government to declare the Individual Mandate unconstitutional. They argue that 'the Commerce Clause' within the constitution, a law that allows Congress to tell the states what to do, can make them adopt the Individual Mandate. The people who are against the Health Care Bill use this as an excuse to overturn the whole law.

Obamacare is a Must

By Tom Kando

I can’t stand it any longer. I HAVE to jump into the fray about Obamacare. It’s the top of the news again, now that the Supreme Court is about to rule on its constitutionality.

The outlook for Obamacare (officially called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA) is bleak. For one thing, a majority of the Supremes are conservative Republicans. Also, the suits challenging the act’s constitutionality are being filed by over half of all the states.

A Layperson’s Understanding of the Economy

by Madeleine Kando

One of the subjects I dreaded the most in school, was economics. I still let my husband balance our checkbook because it takes him only ten minutes compared to my day-long struggle to accomplish even that rudimentary task of our household finances.

Now that the subject of economics is in the forefront of politics, I feel a need to educate myself so that I understand at least the basics, when I listen to the news. Besides, there is a lot of talk about the banking system being the cause of our current fiscal problems and I want to understand how the system works.

Euthanasia in the Netherlands - Again

By Tom Kando

The other issue I have had in front of me since my arrival in the Netherlands is euthanasia: for the past few weeks, our blog has addressed this issue. It started with presidential candidate Rick Santorum's assertion that the Dutch authorities, who have legalized euthanasia, also murder several thousand elderly/sick patients every year, i.e. euthanize them without their explicit consent, without following due process.

Madeleine and I wrote essays vehemently criticizing Santorum and defending the Dutch. I called Santorum a liar and declared categorically that NOBODY is EVER euthanized against his will in the Netherlands.



The Dutch and the US Debts: Is the Shoe on the Other Foot?

By Tom Kando

I have been in Holland for a few days. This small town of Bergen is like a little Brigadoon. It never changes. The thatched roofs, the geranium pots in the windows, the happy and well-dressed people in little cafes, everything in its place and within a few yards from each other. Tom Swinkel's First Bergen bookstore, the cheese shop, the market, the bike rental, the post office, all within two blocks from the main intersection. It's less than a mile from my mother's retirement flat to "downtown" Bergen, and I have walked it half a dozen times already to have my morning "koffie verkeerd" at the Terraza sidewalk cafe, to read my daily copy of the Herald Tribune.