A Response To A Bipolar Mind

Ken AshfordMental Health, PersonalLeave a Comment

You write:   Okay.  Good questions.  Here are some answers. Why do these people who love me think I do these things on purpose?  There are people who love you who don't understand your illness, or don't even know you have an illness.  Yes, those people think you are doing it on purpose.   But then there are people who … Read More

Go On Offense

Ken AshfordElection 2014, Health CareLeave a Comment

Just a week ago, things looked bleak for Democrats and Obama for 2014. But then thePaul Ryan Vanity Project collided with 7 million new signups under the Affordable Care Act, and now the Democrats have the makings of a winning ticket for this year: Go on offense. One of Karl Rove’s basic tenets of politics was to attack from your area of weakness. In the … Read More

The Hobby Lobby Case

Ken AshfordConstitution, Godstuff, Health Care, Supreme CourtLeave a Comment

Justice Anthony Kennedy, on whose vote the Hobby Lobby SCOTUS case rests, seems very concerned about the government forcing corporations to cover abortion: WASHINGTON, DC — Justice Anthony Kennedy thinks gay people are fabulous. All three of the Supreme Court’s most important gay rights decisions were written by Justice Kennedy. So advocates for birth control had a simple task today: convince Kennedy … Read More

Be Wary Of Obamacare “Losers” You See On TV

Ken AshfordHealth CareLeave a Comment

From HealthInsurance.org: For months, health reform’s opponents have been feasting on tales of Obamacare’s innocent victims – Americans who lost their insurance because it doesn’t comply with the ACA’s regulations, and now have to shell out more than they can afford – or go without coverage. Trouble is, many of those stories just aren’t true. Yesterday I posted about a Fort Worth Star Telegram article that … Read More

Prediction

Ken AshfordHealth CareLeave a Comment

There are many many many things wrong with our healthcare system, including things that drive up costs.  None of this is the fault of Obamacare.  But you can be sure that these problems will come to light, and it will be blamed on Obamacare, even if those problems have been around for decades.

Dumbest Comparison Ever

Ken AshfordHealth CareLeave a Comment

On Mandela: “He was fighting against some great injustice, and I would make the argument that we have a great injustice going on right now in this country with an ever-increasing size of government that is taking over and controlling people’s lives — and Obamacare is front and center in that." Folks, if you try to compare affordable health care … Read More

Rand Paul And Doughnuts

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Tea PartyLeave a Comment

Rand is all up in arms over the jack-booted doughnut snatchers: Sen. Rand Paul warned Americans that the federal government is targeting doughnuts, the latest example of the oppressive nanny state in America. "They're coming after your doughnuts!" the Kentucky Republican said, referring to the Food and Drug Administration decision to ban trans fats. Paul added that if the FDA … Read More

Sarah Palin’s Word Salad

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Right Wing Punditry/IdiocyLeave a Comment

Sarah Palin is on a media tour to promote her silly book about a nonexistent "War on Christmas," and appeared on the Today show with a tasty new right wing word salad, achieving (not for the first time) total incoherence: The plan is to allow those things that had been proposed over many years to reform a health-care system in America that … Read More

Republican Alternatives To Obamacare

Ken AshfordHealth Care, Obama OppositionLeave a Comment

As the White House struggles with the rollout of Obamacare’s online health insurance marketplace, pressure has mounted within the Republican Party to begin offering conservative alternatives that address the nation’s health care crisis. Here are some of the plans the GOP is considering: Repeating the phrase “you can keep your current doctor” over and over until something happens Loosening regulations … Read More

Red State Leads In Obamacare

Ken AshfordHealth CareLeave a Comment

It's true — the federal government websites for signing up for the Affordable Care Act are glitchy.  And an embarrassment to the Obama Administration.  And Obama will suffer repercussions for that. But when Obama says that websites are glitchy, and the Affordable Care Act isn't, he's right.  Obamacare isn't the websites.  Not even close. And the other thing is, the … Read More

The Deal

Ken AshfordGubmint Shutdown, Health CareLeave a Comment

Looks like the House is getting ready to vote to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling in return for…. stripping members of Congress, their staff and White House appointees and employees of their Obamacare subsidies. Sounds good to me.

First Thoughts On Homeland, Season 3

Ken AshfordMental Health, Popular CultureLeave a Comment

Showtime's Homeland may have achieved some sort of record for greatest fall from grace for a TV series.  The first season may have been the best-crafted season of any television drama (although Breaking Bad's season four gives it a run for its money).  You had Sergeant Nicholas Brody, a returning war vet and terrorist, and the only person who thought he was … Read More

What Obamacare Will Cost You

Ken AshfordHealth CareLeave a Comment

Okay, it's arrived (despite Ted Cruz's embarrassing attempt to kill it). Obamacare is here. For most of us who are employed, it'll probably mean some kind of change in our health coverage.  But of course, Obamacare wasn't meant for people who already had coverage; it was meant for those who didn't.  And when we are all covered, that works to everyone's benefit. So, … Read More

A Cure For HIV On The Horizon?

Ken AshfordHealth CareLeave a Comment

It looks like scientists have discovered a vaccine which removes SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus — the monkey equivalent of HIV) from primates. If SIV can be removed from monkeys, it shouldn't be long before HIV can be removed from humans.  I would think. P.S.  Reasons to be optimistic