Melinda Gates: People should be able to decide if and when to have babies.

Melinda Gates, who identified herself as a practicing Catholic, believes that people should be able to decide if and when to have babies, and that they should be able to use any available birth control device to avoid becoming pregnant. She stresses that birth control should not be controversial, but it often is. She stresses that the focus of her talk is birth control, not abortion, but that the two terms have become confused these days. Gates was speaking on behalf of the Gates Foundation, announcing its new project: to help the 200 million women of the world who want access to birth control but who don't have access. The topic of Gates' talk makes perfect sense to me, but she is up against some deep-seated suspicion that is inter-twined with religion, tradition and path dependence. In America, where 98% of women use birth control, a vocal and powerful minority of people nonetheless believe that all use of birth control is immoral. Many people have become intimidated by the accusations made by religious conservatives and have become reluctant to speak up for the universal right to birth control. Gates points out that the nuns who taught her in high school encouraged her to "question received teachings," and that she is doing exactly that. She urges that sex is sacred, even for most of the people using birth control, and it is a way to take better care for the children one already has by proactively planning one's family. Gates argues that making birth control widely available where it currently isn't (Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Afghanistan) would be transformative. The numbers back her up. She has spoken to women in many parts of the world, and they tell her that they want to actively plan their families. In the biggest province of India, only 29% of women use birth control of any type. In Nigeria, the number is only 10%. In Senagal, 12% and in Chad it is merely 2%. Gates talk is a personal, non-confrontational one. But it is also a talk that presents a big challenge: We need to have this conversation, and that we need to make birth control an essential part of every public health agenda.

Continue ReadingMelinda Gates: People should be able to decide if and when to have babies.

The Fate of the Volker Rule

Bill Moyers opened a recent show featuring Paul Volker with the following:

Well here we go again. The old game of congressional creep. After months of haggling and debate, Congress finally passes reform legislation to fix a serious rupture in the body politic. The president signs it into law, but then we discover the fight’s just begun, because the special interests immediately set out to win back what they lost when the reform became law. They spread money like manure on the campaign trails of key members of Congress. They unleash hordes of lobbyists on Capitol Hill, cozy up to columnists and editorial writers, spend millions on lawyers who try to rewrite or water down the regulations required for enforcement. And before you know it, what once was an attempt at genuine reform creeps back towards business as usual.
Following this introduction, Moyers interviewed Mr. Volker, who discussed the Rule named after him:

Continue ReadingThe Fate of the Volker Rule

Why is Obama ramping up the war on marijuana?

The war on drugs, including the war on marijuana (i.e., prohibition) is extremely expensive and destructive, and a strong majority of Democrats now approves of medical marijuana. With that as the backdrop, why is Barack Obama cranking up the war on medical cannabis patients, providers and, in some cases, their advocates? At Alternet, Paul Armentano reviews the draconian steps being taken by the Obama Administration and considered several possible explanations for reigniting the drug war with regard to marijuana. Is this the result of pressure put on the Administration by Big Pharma, which will soon market a cannabis-based drug? Is it pressure by drug-war hawks? Perhaps these are factors, but Armentano argues that Obama fears that Americans were starting to see the truth about about the hyped-up federal fear-mongering about marijuana:

While the passage and enactment of statewide medical marijuana laws – 16 states and the District of Columbia now have laws recognizing marijuana’s therapeutic use on the books – is not solely driving the public’s shift in support for broader legalization, it is arguably a major factor. Why? The answer is simple. Tens of millions of Americans residing in these states are learning, first hand, that they can coexist with marijuana being legal! And that is the lesson the federal government fears most. In states like California and Colorado, voters have largely become accustomed to the reality that there can be safe, secure, well-run businesses that deliver consistent, reliable, tested cannabis products. They have come to understand that well-regulated cannabis dispensaries can revitalize sagging economies, provide jobs, and contribute taxes to budget-starved localities. Most importantly, the public in these states and others are finally realizing that all the years of scaremongering by the government about what would happen if marijuana were legal, even for sick people, was nothing but hysterical propaganda. As a result, a majority of American voters are now for the first time asking their federal officials: ‘Why we don’t just legalize marijuana for everyone in a similarly responsible manner?’

Continue ReadingWhy is Obama ramping up the war on marijuana?

Mitt Romney earns $21M, pays 13% in taxes

Robert Reich argues that it is grossly unfair that Mitt Romney earns $21M, but pays only 13% in taxes. He argues that many private-equity, hedge-fund, and pension-fund managers are often playing "con games" that screw the American taxpayers. He offers several solutions:

1. Don't allow private-equity managers to treat their income as capital gains, taxed at 15 percent. Treat this income as ordinary income. 2. Hold them to a "due diligence" standard, so the Pension Guaranty Corporation can claw back bonuses. 3. Raise the capital-gains rate to match the tax rate on ordinary income. 4. Resurrect Glass-Steagall.

Continue ReadingMitt Romney earns $21M, pays 13% in taxes

Looking at galaxies

You could spend many hours at the Hubble site, viewing the photos of distant places--places that are so far away that you become an extraordinary space and time traveler whenever you view these images. The photo below is that of M51 - "The Whirlpool Galaxy." Out of This Whirl: the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and Companion Galaxy Source: Hubblesite.org How many sentient beings living in M51 are currently viewing the Milky Way Galaxy and wondering how many people there are viewing them? That thought motivated the SETI movement and the Drake equation.

Continue ReadingLooking at galaxies