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.
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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. Read more...

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.


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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.
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Senior Citizens Visiting Holland Beware!!

by Madeleine Kando

If you are sixty-five or older and plan to travel to The Netherlands, it is important that you read the following announcement.

It has come to our attention from a very reliable source in the Rick Santorum for President Campaign, that the Dutch Health Care System is now giving geriatric patients lethal injections, whether they are ready to die or not.

Of the Dutch senior citizens who are brave enough to seek medical treatment, ten percent will be euthanized! Unless they wear a wrist band with the words 'DO NOT EUTHANIZE ME' clearly marked in large red letters, the system will make mincemeat out of anyone sixty-five or older.

Senior citizens no longer seek medical care in The Netherlands. They opt to stay at home and rot away rather than go to these Dutch slaughter houses they call hospitals, where an army of overzealous butchers are at the ready, injection needle in hand. Read more...

The Vicious Cycle of Debt

By Tom Kando

On Feb. 13, President Obama presented his 2013 budget plan to Congress, calling for $3.8 billion in expenditures. The plan projects an increase in the federal debt of $1.3 trillion in 2012, and another increase of nearly $1 trillion in 2013.

In 2011, the total fed debt was nearly $15 trillion, or just about 100% of US GDP (which is also about $15 trillion). Currently, 7% of the federal budget (about $250 billion) is spent to finance the debt.
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An Interview with Newt Rontorumney, the 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate

By Tom Kando

By August 2012, the GOP has finally settled on its presidential flag bearer. He is Senator Newt Rontorumney. Here are a few excerpts of a conversation he conducted recently with famous TV interviewer Matt Lauer:

Lauer: “Senator Rontorumney, what do you propose to do about the millions of American homeowners who are under water? That is, people who owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth?”

Rontorumney: “Well Matt, you see, it’s all about individual responsibility. If an individual acts responsibly, he’ll be alright.”
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Rightward Ho! (Again)

By Tom Kando

I never anticipated the country’s unending rightward movement. When I went to school and taught as a professor, from the 1950s until recently, I assumed that progress, by and large, meant that society gradually becomes more just, more rational, more pragmatic, more democratic, and that people hopefully enjoy increasing material comfort, physical health and the other benefits of science. I assumed that this was the long-term trend, despite some major relapses such as Fascism and Communism. Read more...

Do We Really Want a High Priest in the White House?

by Madeleine Kando

A lifetime ago, back when I still lived in Europe, I was already well acquainted with 'Mormons'. These clean cut young men, with their spotless white shirts and black ties, frequently rang our bell in the heart of Amsterdam. They handed us their glossy pamphlets and the only way to make them leave was to shut the door in their face.

I read somewhere that there are fourteen million Mormons worldwide and that Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Their global distribution is extremely wide-spread. Aside from China, some countries in Africa and most of Greenland Mormons are found pretty much everywhere. Read more...

How Should Children be Raised? Should they be Punished?

By Tom Kando

The physical punishment of children is an issue often joined by politicians and social scientists. Most forms of physical punishment of children are already illegal in some countries (e.g. Sweden) and in some states. In California, rep. Mickey Conroy proposed in 1996 to regulate the parental punishment of children, and in 2006, another State representative proposed to outlaw all spanking.

Can the social sciences shed light on this issue? There is no scientific consensus as to the best forms of parenting, but there is some good research. For example, Murray Strauss at the University of New Hampshire has documented the negative effect of just about any form of physical punishment.
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