Typical Views on Gay Marriage

The basic view is this: Democrats = Pro Gay Marriage and Republicans = Anti Gay Marriage
I side with Republicans on many things, but I blatantly do not understand the opposition to gay marriage. Maybe this has to do with me being in a newer generation that

are more tolerant on the issue than are older generations.

 I believe that gay marriage is just another civil rights movement, where people should simply have the right. I side with the liberal idea that marriage should not be regulated and should be free. We are definitely moving towards this space as a country. Here is another part from the Fox News article:

With congressional elections next year, Republicans, Democrats and nonpartisan analysts say the changes benefit Democrats, whose bedrock liberals favor gay unions, and disadvantage Republicans, whose conservative base insists that marriage be solely between a man and a woman.

'This is not a sea change. This is a tide that is slowly rising in favor of gay marriage,' creating a favorable political situation for Democrats and ever-more difficulty for Republicans, said David McCuan, a political scientist at Sonoma State University in California.

Democrats have a broader base filled with more accepting younger voters, as well as flexibility on the issue. Hard-core liberals support gay marriage, while others, including President Barack Obama, take a more moderate position of civil unions and defer to states on gay marriage.

 The democrats can be seen as "using" this position on gay marriage to get the support of the newer generations. I have no strong argument against gay marriage, and don't think I could ever muster one up. The arguments for it are strong and concrete.

People Skip Meds to Save Money

What's scary about America's present health care system is that many men and women would rather go without care than to pay medical costs. This story is not too surprising to me, but it does provide some statistics. Here is an Excerpt;

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, the number of people who went without needed prescription drugs because of costs nearly doubled to 11 percent in 2009 from 6 percent in 1997. And the percentage of Americans who put off needed dental care because of costs rose to 17 percent in 2009, compared with 11 percent in 1997.

I do not blame the 17%+ Americans who skip drugs to save costs. The prices of medicines can be outrageous without a government that takes care of everything for free. This part of health care hits a chord with me, everyone should have at least some health care, or better health care than we have now where people have to cut back on medicine. I can't wait to see how Obamacare is changed for the better in the coming years.

Calorie Counts Don't Deter Adolescents

America is well known as one of the fattiest countries in the world. Some states have obesity rates exceeding 60% for adults and 30% for kids. This portrays a dim picture of this nation. Obesity is one of the top contributors to heart disease and countless other problems as you've probably seen if you watch major news channels. However, obesity is still a problem and will continue to drain money from incomes to pay for health care.
In a study on how fast food restaurants calorie counts affect peoples' choices in New York City, it was shown that only 9% of people were affected and the others still chose in relation to flavor. MSNBC reports on this study.

'It means we're going to have to rethink what other sorts of interventions might be more effective,' Dr. Brian Elbel of NYU, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

Mandating calorie counts on restaurant menus is part of President Barack Obama's new health care law is included in the White House's push to reduce rates of obesity, which is one of the biggest health challenges facing the United States.

I am glad Obama is hunting for a a healthier, thinner America. The rates of obesity in some states is outrageous.  Cutting back on fat will also cut back on health care costs significantly even if the obesity rate is lowered a few percent. We can only wait and see if America slims down the next generation.

Mental Health Break

New Radiohead Album

And if you're into tasteful skate videos, watch this gem from Nike SB.

The F-Scale and Politopia

Today I took two quizzes to see where I land when it came to politics. In both tests, the F-Scale and Politopia, I scored in the middle, maybe a little to the right. I placed no where near extreme, which is what I expected. 

This was my F-Scale result;

3.266666 (out of 5)
You are disciplined but tolerant; a true American.

I liked this test because it forced you to make a decision, not just go in the middle. The only bad part was that the test asks some weird questions that did not even relate much to political party, or so I think.

This was my Politician result;

Centerville-You would feel most at home in Centerville, which means that you are more or less pleased the status quo-you think the US government has just about the right amount of control over your economic and personal decisions. Your neighbors include democratic and republican party leaders and others who call themselves "moderates" and "centrists."

This test scored me as a moderate, and a little to the west side. I think this means I am a little left. My views were basically; I am happy with how the US is governed as is.

Take these quizzes in the links posted in the first paragraph.

Health Care in China

Health care in the US is far from perfect, but so is China's health care. China has a system where they pay around 60+ percent on health care expenses for patients. The country tries to give every social class the same type of care. The problems for China could be that there are so many people living in one country, or that rich patients can get better care because doctors like them. This 2009 CBS News article explains major problems China's health care is facing. Here is an excerpt;

China's health-care system is in disarray, a side effect of the market reforms that have spurred private enterprise and rapid growth since 1980. Before then, state-owned companies offered cradle-to-grave care, part of a system based on danwei, or work units, that provided health, education, pensions and other benefits. But as the economy has grown more diverse, an increasing number of Chinese have had to fend for themselves, with only a porous government insurance program to help.

As U.S. lawmakers engage in a tense debate over health-care reform, Chinese authorities, too, are attempting to fix their system. Over the past five years, the government has tried to provide coverage to more of its 1.4 billion people. But even people covered by a minimal health insurance program are often left with big hospital bills and must pay for most outpatient services and medication. More than 300 million people do not have any health insurance.

There are similar problems of coverage for both China and the US. I hope that our proposed health care bill is further changed to evade the problems China is having.
On a separate note, my mom has first hand experience with Chinese hospitals, saying they included long waits and poorer service than US hospitals. This may be another downside to adopting a "socialized" health care program, but I still need to do more research into our health programs to make a more intelligent diagnosis.

Upsides to Obamacare?

A Fox News poll and a recent house vote force me to question the information and opinions I have been fed about the health care bill. If this many people oppose the health care reform, there must be some good reasons. I try to ignore comments about it being socialist, mainly because this does not add much to the anti argument.
The Fox News article and poll stats are here:

On the issue of how Congress should handle health care, over half would like to see the new law either repealed entirely (27 percent) or parts of the law repealed (34 percent). Another 20 percent want the health care law expanded.

About one voter in seven (14 percent) would leave the new law in its current form.

Views on what should happen to the new law have held fairly steady for the last few months, with anywhere from a 54-to -61 percent majority supporting repealing part or all of the law, and about a third wanting it implemented as is or expanded.

The views range from wanting to completely take health care out of the picture, repealing parts of the bill, or keeping the whole thing as is. However, the majority seems to believe that the bill should at least be modified to better fit everyone. In it's current state, it seems there is no way it will pass as countless stated deem it unconstitutional to force people to pay for health care.

Sicko Facts

I recently watched the movie Sicko in my government class and had an eye opening experience. Sicko, produced and starring Michael Moore exposes the extreme sides of health care in the US, but it also brings up many questions.
Here is a fact sheet from Sicko,

• "The United States is the only industrialized country in the world without a universal health insurance system.
• In 2006, the U.S. census reported that 46 million Americans (recently revised downward to 45 million) have no health insurance.
•  “Over a third (36%) of families living below the poverty line are uninsured. Hispanic Americans (34%) are more than twice as likely to be uninsured as white Americans, (13%) while 21% of black Americans have no health insurance.”
• More than 9 million children lack health insurance in America.
• Eighteen thousand people die each year because they are uninsured.

This is just a small bit of the facts pulled from the movie (made in 2007). I find these facts fascinating because of their weirdness, for lack of a better word. These facts are weird, because America is highly industrialized and is viewed as one of the best countries in the world to live in, yet many people die because they do not receive health care.
Granted, Sicko takes many extreme cases and does not look into the bad sides of other health care systems. I am going to derive my own health care views from what I research in the upcoming months.