Here's a real-life dilemma with medical, legal and moral dimensions.  My approach is as follows:

1. At the moment of conception, there are two human beings with rights. 
2. At that moment, the mother loses some of her rights "to her body". This includes the right of "self-determination" articulated in an "Advanced Directive".
3. The exception is the right to protection, in the least invasive but effective method, of her physical life.  
4. Even in the advanced state of medical science, "brain dead" is dead.  Any further medical "treatment" is "futile", something that no physician is required - or even allowed - to render. 
5. In the case of a pregnant woman who has died, leaving a demonstrably living human being in her womb, she becomes no different from an incubator for that child until or unless the child also dies or gets to a point where viability outside the womb is likely. 
6. Any demonstrable deformities of the fetus considered incompatible with life outside the womb, like the absence of a functioning heart or brain, would make the above approach for the fetus also "futile".  
7. All of the above is predicated on a legal standing of the conceptus - fetus as a "human person", a human being under a post-Civil War interpretation of the U.S. Constitution (ie. 100% human, not "3/5's).
8. Of course, that "standing" does not now exist. 
9. Thus, the above moral / ethical approach will defer in a Court of Law to the current state of the applicable law, involving concepts of "self-determination" and "futility".  

ECONOMICS: THE “DISMAL SCIENCE”.

This is my one foray into a field which has only a very tentative hold on my knowledge, my experience and my interest.  But I was brought back to it with the recent publication of a book by Alan Greenspan entitled “The Map And The Territory: Risk, Human Nature, And The Future Of Forecasting” (The Penguin Press, New York, 2013).  This is the economist who was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 1987 to 2006, an agency which (according to Sec. 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, is empowered “to lend nearly unlimited cash to virtually anybody”. (P1).  This is also the man who, after the great crash of Sept. 2008, declared in essence: “I didn’t know the gun was loaded”.  So, Mr. Greenspan went “back to school”; and this is the result.  For that effort, I greatly commend him.

·         He admits to the great disparity between economic forecasting and being able to follow the immutable rules of the physical sciences.

·         Recalling his comment of years about “irrational exhuberance”, we now read about some elements of Economics: “animal spirits”; fear and euphoria; risk aversion; time preference; herd behavior; dependency; home bias; competition; code of values; self-interest; self-esteem; rationality….  To that I might add the most pervasive element underlying all human behavior: insecurity.  Of course, this all begins to sound like “psychobabble” rather than “economics”.  But it is undoubtedly true. 

·         After an in-depth analysis of what happened, much like the  “forecasts” of weather forecasters until recent years, Mr. Greenspan arrives at conclusions that will be approved by most of us. We must stop the massive borrowing.  We must eliminate the concept of “too big to fail”. We must reduce the oppressive level of government regulations on business.  We must heal our broken political system. 

·         But in his last book paragraph, “…before I despair of the future, I need to remind myself that we have been here before”. (pp306-307).  Here he refers to 1940, when “…the future appeared bleak. America’s greatness was in our past.  Less than a decade later, the American economy was humming on all cylinders”.  But, Mr. Greenspan, THAT REQUIRED A WAR!  So, should we be reassured?

But the economic forecasters continue to prognosticate. 

See “The Emerging – Market Comedown”, by Rushir Sharma, in WSJ Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014, Opinion, pA19.  See also “U.S. May Roar Back As Upstarts Stumble”, by David Ignatius, in TheDay Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, Opinion, pA6. 

On more solid ground are the following two articles: 1) “Obama’s Homework Assignment: Study The  Role of Parents”, by Thomas L. Friedman, in The Day Tuesday, Jan, 21, 2014, Opinion, pA6; and 2) “A Key Strategy: Save The Family”, by Nicholas Kristor, in The Day Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, Opinion, pA6.  These belatedly begin to address the core problems underlying rising economic inequality, reduced social mobility, and FAILURE: parents, parenting, two-family households, education, and respect for society and law.  However “politically incorrect”, these are the issues that in the last four decades have replaced personal responsibility and independence with dependence, absent self-esteem and Failure.  There is the diagnosis…and there is the treatment.

GS

SOCHI - THE WINTER OLYMPICS

POT POURRI...

• West Virginia.  I feel for the hundreds of thousands who have lost their water...at least temporarily.  But with the denuded and despoiled mountains and the polluted rivers and air - all in the name of a way of life and livelihood - West Virginians long ago made a pact with the Devil.  They picked their poison.  Maybe now they will re-evaluate.
• Global Warming.  A scientific fact, whether you like it or not.  See "If You See Something, Say Something", by Michael E. Mann, NYTimes Sunday, January 19, 2014, pSR6.  See also "'Neglected Topic' Winner: Climate Change", by Nicholas Kristof, NYTimes ibid, pSR11.  Also a fact is human contribution to global warming.  What is legitimately in question is the degree of that contribution: 5% or 75%.  What is not in question is whether or not  humans should continue as part of the problem - or become part of the solution.  Meanwhile, we are witnessing the damaging results of global warming, now and not in the dim future.  A little responsibility here, please. 
• Insecurity: The Prime Motivating Factor Underlying Human Behavior. Whatever a person's outward actions or reactions, look for this as the basis.  One example is found in the confession of Sam Polk entitled "For The Love Of Money", NYTimes Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, pSR1.  An addiction, or a poorly chosen coping mechanism?  It is also interesting that the author refers to the concept of "enough money".  You may recall my definition of three kinds of money: Old Money, New Money...and Enough Money. 
• Israel.  See "Region Boiling, Israel Takes Up Castle Strategy", NYTimes Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, pA1.  Folks, you're surrounded.  That's a losing strategy.  Consider my proposal, already made in this section: become a Commonwealth or a State of the United States.  Better than World War lll.
• Retirement vs. Career Change.  Forget about retirement.  It's dangerous to your physical, psychological and economic health.  Instead, consider planning for a career change, from whatever current career to whatever new career - depending on your interests and capabilities.  It will make your present and your future much happier - and much more personally productive. 

RR#1

RR#2

ABORTION: AMERICA'S CURSE THAT KEEPS ON GIVING.

January 22, 2014 marks the 41 anniversary of the most judicially arrogant Holding of the USSC since the Dred Scott decision.

Roe v Wade was decided without legal or medical or moral / ethical basis.  Since then, over 50 million babies, human beings, persons have been killed by abortion.  

For reflection, I offer two quotations:

"The Lord said to me:You are my servant, 

    Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Now the Lord has spoken

    who formed me as his servant from the womb,

that Jacob may be brought back to him

    and Israel gathered to him;

and I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord,

    and my God is now my strength!"    Isaiah 49 :3, 5-6

ANOTHER MOVIE REVIEW: The "Jack Ryan..." pot-boiler.

First of all , the viewer must TOTALLY  suspend credulity...as well as suspending several of the Laws of Nature.

Secondly, you must be willing to accept one of the longest romantic courtships in movie history with incomplete insight into the emotional bond on which that relationship had to rely. 

However, you will get a nice visit to Moscow and action sequences which, although "faster than a speeding bullit", will raise your pulse about 10 points at times. 

The best part is the premise, which highlights the real risks this nation faces, in addition to cyber - warfare: "Economic War".

ABOUT SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE

Robert Gates.  What a breath of fresh air, after the miserable tenure of Donald Rumsfeld.  After having spent much of the several years following our invasion of Iraq in 2003 bemoaning the stupidities and arrogance of Rumsfeld on my frequent Rapid Response offerings of those years (all of which are posted on this web-site), I will not reach for the Nexium now.  

With the start of the NFL season, perhaps all team owners should be

sent the following:

From a Marine Corps Colonel in Afghanistan:

"So with all the kindness I can muster, I give this one piece of

advice to the next pop star who is asked to sing the national anthem

at a sporting event: save the vocal gymnastics and the physical

gyrations for your concerts. Just

 sing this song the way you were

taught to sing it in kindergarten - straight up, no styling.

"Sing it with the constant awareness that there are soldiers, sailors,

airmen and Marines watching you from bases and outposts all over the

world.

Don't make them cringe with your self-centered ego gratification.

Sing it as if you are standing before a row of 86-year-old WWII vets

wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and flag pins on their

cardigans and you want them to be proud of you for honoring them and

the country they love - not because you want them to think you are a

superstar musician.

They could see that from your costume, makeup and your entourage.

Sing 'The Star Spangled Banner' with the courtesy and humility that

tells the audience that it is about America , not you.

And please remember, not everything has to be sung as a spiritual.

We're getting a little weary of that.

Francis Scott Key does not need any help."


Semper Fi

Here is a proposal from me: a) No "Right of Return"; and b) Jerusalem declared an Open City, belonging to the three major Religions and to the world at large.  Alternative proposal: Israel becomes a Commonwealth...or a State...of the United States, with all of the attendant rights, duties, protections and responsibilities.  I kid you not!  Either alternative makes more sense than World War III.

"Okay, you've had your fill of punishing Black students this month. Good luck with the remaining days."

Leftists are clinically insane. This is a fact.

Education experts blast DOJ's apparent call for race-based system of punishment of schoolkids - FoxNews.Com

...and it's getting worse. 
But why?
I've been giving this a lot of thought lately.  The following are some not-so-random observations that need to be put into a "treatment plan" that is much more democratic and much less traumatic than the events of the 1850's that led directly to our catastrophic Civil War. 

1. The developing level of hateful and even violent discourse flooding a now vastly expanded public media is becoming reminiscent of the tone - and then the actions - of the 1850's as regarded slavery then.
2. It was then - and is now - felt that there was and is no possible level of compromise on the issues involved.
3. The Federal Government then was a feckless observer of the conflict.  Today, the Federal Government is the main combatant  in our citizens' conflicting foundational views about the nature of America: a mammoth nanny-state for all who can't - and won't - take care of themselves vs. a free and independent citizenry that values self-sufficiency while being ready to help the "deserving under-served". Today's role of the Federal Government is much more dangerous and obstructive to the prospects for compromise than was its role in the 1850's.
4. The election laws, election financing with massive amounts of money, and the lack of both statutory and effective forms of term limits (ie. the vote), have produced a massive class of professional politicians whose primary goal is to be re-elected and to amass personal wealth, in the process engaging in all manner of illegal and unethical "quid pro quo" behavior.
5. This nation as always been in more danger from a tyranny of the Left than from a tyranny of the Right.  The Left wants to Control, thereby assuring its own permanence.  The Right wants to be left alone.  We are seeing this today in the Left's constant demands for "more" and in the Right's strident complaints against that. 
6. And now, the Left is collecting  more and more dependents (recently reported to include over 50% of Americans who receive some sort of government largess in the form of "entitlements"); and the Right is collecting more and more guns for a possible war - just as in the 1850's.  
7. This is CRAZY - and unnecessary.  The inmates are taking over the asylum because the vast majority of mentally competent Americans are on a coffee break. 
8. WHAT TO DO?

• Wake up, America.  This is serious.
• You can't beat something with nothing.  And right now, a credible moderately conservative Republican alternative does not exist.  That must be corrected by the moderate conservatives themselves.
• A message must be sent in the elections of 2014: a moderate Republican take-over of both the House and the Senate, requiring defeat of the fundamentalists on both sides. 
• Such a Congress must then initiate the process for U.S. Constitutional Amendments regarding both Term Limits and election financing limits, thereby moving to a restoration of representative government - something lost in recent decades. 
• That would set the nation up for a loud and healthy peaceful debate over the future direction of the country, to be defined by the election results in 2016. 

A good article.  I have been ridiculing employer-provided health insurance since the 1970's.  I have been espousing Health Saving Accounts since the 1980's, all the while that the health care insurance industry and the government have been suppressing them.  I have been predicting in the years since ObamaCare became law that this house of cards will fall of its own weight after a three or four year period of misery...and that by then the disparity between the many millions of patients seeking care and the inadequate number of MD's will restore laws of supply and demand.  And I have been calling for total reform of the medical malpractice industry to relieve us all of the inefficiencies and great cost of "Defensive Medicine".  Look it up.  It's all on my web-site (www.asthma-drsprecace.com).  In addition to taking care of my patients, all comers, that's the best that I can do.

GS

In case you didn't see this Wall Street Journal article…

What to do when ObamaCare Unravels - The Wall Street Journal

And a blog post about the article that I thought was good…

Cochrane on ACA's unraveling: parallels to electricity - KnowledgeProblem.Com

WHO LOST IRAQ?

Here is a question that has been bothering me for many months as we witness the descent of that country - where America actually won vs. the Fundamentalist crazies - into a civil war.  And today we read, in addition to the recurrent suicide bombings, of a concerted effort by the enemies of both Iraq and of America to recapture their old strongholds there.

LEGALIZING MARIJUANA...a bad health idea, except for legitimate medical indications prescribed by a responsible physician. 

Regarding the possible political implications, that remains to be seen...although we have already diagnosed untra-liberals as functionally schizophrenic.

"THE PROBLEM OF MUSLIM LEADERSHIP", by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, WSJ Tuesday, May 28, 2013, Opinion, pA15.

Regarding the field of Economics, aptly termed "the dismal science", I must pull a Sergeant Schultz: "I know notttthhhhink."

But Alan Greenspan knows something, even though he had to admit after the 2008 meltdown something to the effect that "I didn't know the gun was loaded". 

Only Paul Krugman, the perpetually liberal economist of the New York Times, is absolutely and eternally secure in his pronouncements regarding the validity of this administration's economic manipulations. 

However, now come two articles worth reading suggesting that Krugman and the Obama administration have had it all wrong.

See "How Britain Returned to Growth", by George Osborne (United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer), WSJ Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, Opinion, pA17. 

See also "The Case For Repealing Dodd-Frank", by Peter J . Wallison, in Imprimis (Hillsdale College), November 2013, Volume 42, Number 11.