Andrew Sullivan's Blog, page 2755

The System Is Sick, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

Jonathan Cohn begs Kathleen Sebelius to read Mariah Blake's article:

You might be wondering why, after all these years, hospitals don'tsimply turn their back on the GPOs and buy directly from companiesselling better, cheaper wares. It's not clear, but the likely answer isa combination of inertia (hospitals have always done it this way, sothey keep doing it) and corruption, of the moral if not legal kind(hospitals still have personal and perhaps financial ties to the GPOs).Of...

OMG You're High Right Now?!

by Chris Bodenner

A reporter interviewing MS sufferer Montel Williams channels the unseriousness of the MSM on marijuana:

Recreation - Chris Bodenner - United States - Business - Republican

Picky Eaters, Ctd

by Patrick Appel

A reader writes:

I think there is a large missing piece to the argument that veganism is just an extension of the neurosis of picky-eating. When I went vegan (nearly 2 years ago), I was afraid that my options would be limited and I would be eating the same things over and over again. But my fear was really just an extension of the "vegans only eat salad" argument that some ignorant omnivores use. Since I cut out all animal products, I have discovered a number of delicious...

The Daily Wrap

Today on the Dish, the NAACP leveled the racism charge at the Tea Party, tea-partiers punted on the DOMA ruling, Jesse Jackson played the slavery card over LeBron, and Susanna Ferreira warned us about anticipated violence after the Cup. In Palin coverage, Dave Weigel went after Andrew's take on Trig, Michelle Cottle marveled at her media strategy, Tim Mak downplayed her PAC haul, and readers doubted her ability to maintain a campaign staff.

Weigel, blogging from a remote island in Alaska,

Face Of The Day

by Chris Bodenner

A woman throws back her hair swimming pool in the village Velka Mana
southern Slovakia, on July 11, 2010. Temperatures reached more than 30 degrees
Celsius in many parts of Slovakia. By Samuel Kubani/AFP/Getty Images.

Swimming pool - Celsius - Slovakia - Shopping - Home and Garden

Redeeming Prisoners

by David Frum

The Hip Hop Republican site takes on a cause that ought to be of huge concern to conservatives: the American prison system. 

In the 1990s, the US achieved amazing success against crime, in large part thanks to a new willingness to send more criminals to jail longer. "Incapacitation" is the technical term  for this strategy, and it worked. But incapacitation occurs at a huge human and financial cost. It's not cheap to lock up millions of people for long periods of years. Sooner or ...

Would Hayek Vote For Obamacare?

by Patrick Appel

Will Wilkinson thinks not:

Singapore, I think, has the closest thing to the sort of system Hayekhad in mind. Among wealthy countries, it spends the smallest percentageof GDP on health care, and it gets about the best results. You knowwhat that's called? Efficiency. How do you getit? Competitive markets with freely moving prices under the rule oflaw! It's the sort of thing you're in favor of if you want everybody tohave access to really good health care and money to spend on...

"Am I A Manufacturer?"

by Patrick Appel

Avent tweeted last week that "something about the word 'manufacturing' makes people lose their analytical senses." He expands on that thought:

There is a sense that people seem to have that the making of thingsis an activity crucial to a modern economy. It's crucial because acountry that can't make things is vulnerable to trade collapse. It'scrucial because a country that can't make things is likely to lose itseconomic edge. It's crucial because without manufacturing you...

Will Legalizing Pot Double Use?

by Patrick Appel

We have no reason to think so:

RAND at least tells the truth in the report about not knowing anything. Which is good. But given how the press loves fresh meat, it appears that they then had to go ahead and give projections that they knew were pulled out of their asses, and that they probably knew would be misused in the press.

RAND - Cannabis - United States - Tax - Law

Chart Of The Day

by Patrick Appel

Dylan Matthews compares home sizes over time:

Interestingly, the Northeast was out ahead for a long period, ahead of
Midwestern states that one might expect to have more space for big
homes. With the crash, though, things are evening out as all regions'
square footage tumbles.

Midwestern United States - Northeastern United States - Square foot - Tax credit - Technology