Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Next Culture War

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/opinion/29brooks.html?scp=1&sq=the%20next%20culture%20war&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Subject: re: The Next Culture War
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    Mr. Brooks may be astonished to learn that the excesses of the eighties that he decries are widely known as "Reagan's America". Likewise, the virtues for which he grieves were those of Jimmy Carter. Get a sweater, Mr. Brooks. Turn down your thermostat. Maybe re-register as a Democrat.
Barry Levine

In a Parched Los Angeles, the Streets Suddenly Run Wet

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/us/29water.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=water-main&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Subject: re: In a Parched Los Angeles, the Streets Suddenly Run Wet
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
   While the break of a water-main gets news coverage, Southern California's ongoing waste of water during a drought is treated as normal.  Vast amounts of water are pumped from the Sacramento river to be lost to evaporation in open canals before ever getting to Southern California.  The current system of hundreds of miles of open ditches would have been an engineering marvel in the age of Conan; in the age of Arnold, it's an outrage.
Barry Levine

Monday, September 28, 2009

A War President?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/opinion/28douthat.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=a%20war%20president&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 10:19 PM
Subject: re: A War President?
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
   President George W. Bush was a war president by choice. He disdained to lead a broad international coalition to apprehend the criminals who had attacked the world trade center and the pentagon. President Barack Obama inherited two wars.  He has told us that "war" is an unhelpful descriptor of our struggle against terrorists. but time is running. If he doesn't quickly  reformulate our effort in Afghanistan as a law-enforcement effort to eliminate Al Qaeda, the war there will stick to him as surely as Vietnam stuck to Dick Nixon.
Barry Levine

Friday, September 25, 2009

Pre-existing Conditions and Insurance Pools

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/pre-existing-conditions-and-insurance-pools/?scp=1&sq=exchanges%20would%20be%20required%20to%20take%20all%20comers&st=cse


- Hide quoted text -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 25, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Subject: re: Pre-existing Conditions and Insurance Pools
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    The HealthCare bill currently in front of the Senate Finance Committee would create a problematic "high risk pool" for people with pre-existing conditions. The problems grow insuperable in 2013, when regular insurance exchanges "would be required to take all comers".  In such a system, I would be motivated to carry the cheapest insurance available, but to buy up to a more comprehensive plan if and when I were hit by a bus or diagnosed with cancer. A private insurer "required to take all comers" would be in an untenable position. I don't pretend that SinglePayer is the only way forward, but the package in front of the Senate Finance Committee doesn't even pass the giggle test.
Barry Levine

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Justice Dept. to Limit Use of State Secrets Privilege

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/us/politics/23secrets.html?scp=1&sq=state-secrets&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Subject: re: Justice Dept. to Limit Use of State Secrets Privilege
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    It is half a century over-due that we reassess the matter of State Secrets. While there are matters--like troop movements in times of war--that are legitimate secrets, the doctrine has more often been used to cover government embarrassment and malfeasance.  The proposed changes are an insufficient gesture in the right direction. Invocations of State Secrets should have to pass the scrutiny of a judge outside the department of Justice, and that judge must have the power to get all relevant documents, and to deny the claim of State Secrets  when that is warranted.
Barry Levine

Obama Considers Strategy Shift in Afghan War

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/world/asia/23policy.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=strategy%20shift%20in%20afghan&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 9:02 AM
Subject: re: Obama Considers Strategy Shift in Afghan War
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
     Eight years ago, the civilized world stood united in solidarity with the U.S., ready to join together to visit justice on the terrorists who had attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  It was perceived that Al Qaeda threatened legitimate governments everywhere,  in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia no less than in the U.S. President Bush and his team quickly alienated key allies in this effort, calling for "crusade" and launching wars against the governments of Afghanistan and then Iraq. It is time and past time that we re-assess these choices. Osama bin Laden is still at large, and the Afghans are showing no enthusiasm for our continued presence on their soil. Until we have finished our real fight with Al Qaeda, we have no credibility in picking other fights.
Barry Levine

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Refitted to Bury Emissions, Plant Draws Attention

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/science/earth/22coal.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=refitted%20to%20bury%20emissions&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 9:21 AM
Subject: re: Refitted to Bury Emissions, Plant Draws Attention
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
     There is convincing evidence that carbon can be sequestered for geological ages either as cellulose (peat) or as elemental carbon (coal or biochar). Corresponding evidence that carbon dioxide will stay stably sequestered is much scarcer. Recently, it was shown that what had long been dismissed as ancient carbon dioxide had actually be bound as carbonate rock until liberated by magmatic heating.  "Clean Coal" is an idol to whom those who seek senator Robert Byrd's favor bow down. It is not a solution to our energy or climate woes.
Barry Levine

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Leading Senator Pushes New Plan to Oversee Banks

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/business/economy/20regulate.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=regulator&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Subject: re: Leading Senator Pushes New Plan to Oversee Banks
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:  
    The United States has a long and inglorious history of quasi-governmental agencies from Alexander Hamilton's bank to the Federal Reserve. Each has cost our government (ourselves) a great deal of money to safeguard the profits of the private partner.  Senator Dodd is absolutely right; if there is to be a powerful regulator of our banking system, it should be our regulator, rather than an additional power given to the already-too-powerful Federal Reserve.
Barry Levine

Friday, September 18, 2009

A Short History of Fast Times on Wall Street

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/opinion/18silver.html


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Subject: re: A Short History of Fast Times on Wall Street
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    It is the mandate of each stock exchange to provide a level playing field on which investors trade. Someone will always be maneuvering for advantage, and the regulators will always be lagging. There is a general fix that will end the arms race on speed trading. It is a more steeply graduated capital gains tax. It is proper that capital gains tax on long term investments should be low; these are the investments on which publicly traded companies run. That might be left at 15% for assets held over two years. Assets held less than an hour are more game than investment. Tax them at 100%. Ramp the rate in between.
Barry Levine

Former C.I.A. Chiefs Protest Justice Inquiry of Interrogation Methods

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/former-cia-chiefs-protest-justice-inquiry-of-interrogation-methods/


- Hide quoted text -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 3:40 PM
Subject: re: Former C.I.A. Chiefs Protest Justice Inquiry of Interrogation Methods
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    No American is above the law. This applies as much to agents of our C.I.A. as to anyone else. In extremis, our president may pardon an agent for crimes if he/she judges such a pardon to be in the national interest. Were the president to block the investigation of violations of our statutory law or of our treaty obligations, he/she would be obstructing justice, in violation of his/her constitutional duty.
Barry Levine

Rockefeller Stands Up for Liberals on Health Care

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/health/policy/18rock.html?scp=1&sq=rockefeller%20stands%20up&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Subject: re: Rockefeller Stands Up for Liberals on Health Care
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    Senator Rockefeller duly held his peace while chairman Baucus elaborated on his vision for healthcare reform. Now the deliberative function of the Senate requires that he speak.  The gang of six held out no real prospect of bipartisan reform, because the Republicans in both houses are bent on handing president Obama a tactical defeat.  Rather, the gang of six accepted millions from the Insurance industry to split a few key centrists away from any plan that included the dreaded Public Option.  Senator Rockefeller's timing is strategic. His message is timeless.
Barry Levine

Afghan Vote Uncertainty Sparks Dilemma for U.S.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/world/asia/18policy.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ballot%20uncertainty%20creates&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Subject: re: Afghan Vote Uncertainty Sparks Dilemma for U.S.
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
   The time for a major anti-corruption drive in Afghanistan is, and always is now. Every life and every dollar we pour into that conflict is wasted if we are seen to be propping up a corrupt regime.
Barry Levine

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Obama Offers Ways to Rate Efforts in Afghan Region

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/world/asia/17policy.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=rate%20efforts%20in%20Afghan&st=cse


- Hide quoted text -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 9:36 AM
Subject: re: Obama Offers Ways to Rate Efforts in Afghan Region
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
     The prospects of success in Afghanistan are not in American hands alone, nor only in the hands of our NATO allies. As long as the Afghan people perceive that we are propping up a corrupt and illegitimate government in Kabul, our continued presence will be a recruitment bonanza to Al Qaeda.  To succeed in Afghanistan, we need the Afghans to reject Al Qaeda.  That is unlikely when our only relationship is to an isolated, corrupt, unrepresentative urban elite.
Barry Levine

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Where Cancer Progress Is Rare, One Man Says No

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/health/policy/16cancer.html?hp


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Subject: re: Where Cancer Progress Is Rare, One Man Says No
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
   In most disease areas, the FDA requires evidence of both safety and efficacy before one can launch the first study in humans. In the Cancer area, only evidence of safety is required, because animal models of cancer correlate only weakly with the disease in humans. It  therefore seems obvious that the FDA must require evidence of efficacy coming out of these clinical trials, before approving a new therapy.  The definition of efficacy however is vexing.  If the only measure of efficacy is the extension of life, then patients will be chosen for these studies who are already near death. These patients are the least likely to respond to treatment. The consequence is that we have probably disallowed many drugs that would have shown efficacy if they had been tested against younger cancers.
Barry Levine

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Land First, Then Peace

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/opinion/13turki.html?scp=1&sq=land%20first,%20then%20peace&st=cse


- Hide quoted text -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Subject: re: Land First, Then Peace
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
   In 1921, the British created the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan by partition of their mandate in Palestine. The remaining 23% of the land was then further partitioned by the United Nations in 1947 into three parts. These were to be a Jewish State, an Palestinian State and the International Enclave of Jerusalem. The proto-Israelis accepted this partition, the proto-Palestinians rejected it, and no one spoke for Jerusalem.  Now ambassador al-Faisal proposes that talks of peace should posit that Jordan, and the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem are eternally Arab lands, and only the remaining 12.7% of the land of the British Mandate is to be discussed.  From such a starting point, I can't see any prospect of peace.
Barry Levine

Friday, September 11, 2009

Pick for Lebanese Prime Minister Withdraws

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/world/middleeast/11lebanon.html?scp=1&sq=pick%20for%20lebanese&st=cse


- Hide quoted text -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 8:05 AM
Subject: re: Pick for Lebanese Prime Minister Withdraws
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    You will have noticed that a construction like "Syria, which dominated Lebanon militarily for three decades.." is stilted. An native speaker of English would call this a military occupation. As long as you reserve the language of military occupation to the Israeli presence in the West Bank, but find circumlocutions for the Syrians in Lebanon, the Chinese in Tibet and the Russian in Chechnya, your pose as an impartial reporter of the world's news is shaky indeed.
Barry Levine

Obama Faces Doubts From Democrats on Afghanistan

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/world/asia/11military.html?_r=1&hp


- Hide quoted text -
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 7:54 AM
Subject: re: Obama Faces Doubts From Democrats on Afghanistan
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
     In September 2001, peoples and governments around the world stood united to join the U.S. it our battle with Al Qaeda. Key allies in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia recognized the common threat, to themselves as much as to our government.  President Bush preferred to assert broad war-time powers and proceeded to alienate allies on the front line by calling for "crusade".  It is against this background that president Obama now pitches his case for Afghanistan. There is no support for a military occupation, and scant support for nation-building.  If president Obama means to rally the American people, it must be for the original task of eliminating the threat from Al Qaeda.
Barry Levine

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Big Food vs. Big Insurance


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=big%20food%20vs.%20big%20insurance&st=cse

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Subject: re: Big Food vs. Big Insurance
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
   I was taught as a child that there are only three bargains in healthcare: potable water, sanitary sewers and vaccines. Anything else you can contemplate that improves human health and extends human life is vastly more expensive. Michael Pollan invites us to broaden the discussion to include a good diet. Like the classic big three, this also has no place in the current American paradigm of pay a lot when you get sick. Only when we have a national and universal healthcare plan will there be an incentive to pursue these bargains rather than sticking ever more tubes into the dying.
Barry Levine

Monday, September 7, 2009

Obama Faces a Critical Moment for His Presidency

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/us/politics/07obama.html?_r=1&hp


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 8:37 AM
Subject: re: Obama Faces a Critical Moment for His Presidency
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    It would be a grave error to conclude that Obama's supporters have gone soft on him because healthcare reform and the economic recovery haven't happened swiftly. We are not so naive as to believe that either of these could be solved without a lot of effort and some real disagreements. Rather, Obama's backers have gone soft on him because he has gone soft on the simple things. Warrantless wiretapping is a violation of our constitutionally-guaranteed freedom from unreasonable search. Where is the investigation and prosecution? We have clear statutes banning torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners. Why are we still only talking about investigations and prosecutions?  It is because president Obama has not been clear and forceful on the clear and simple issues that his backers are coming to mistrust him on the broader ones.
Barry Levine

Friday, September 4, 2009

Advisers to Obama Divided on Size of Afghan Force

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/us/politics/04military.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=obama%20advisors%20are%20split&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 8:57 AM
Subject: re: Advisers to Obama Divided on Size of Afghan Force
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    Secretary Gates would do well to listen to admiral Mullen.  We will be welcome or unwelcome in Afghanistan according to our behavior, more than our numbers. I trust that General McChrystal has impressed this on all our troops. Unfortunately about half our force there--our contractors--don't report to him. Where there is not military discipline, what else can enforce proper behavior? Perhaps we need to rely more on Gurkhas, who bring a culture of sober probity and order, rather than on Blackwater and ArmorGroup, who bring the culture of drunken fratboys.
Barry Levine

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

C.I.A. Resists Disclosure of Records on Detention

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/us/02intel.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=cia&st=cse


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Subject: re: C.I.A. Resists Disclosure of Records on Detention
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
    We have been told that George Bush's detention policies are no longer the U.S.'s policy. What then is protected by sealing these documents about policies that no longer pertain? As in the Reynolds case that established the notion of a "states secrets privilege" these documents would embarrass some members of the former administration. That however does not amount to a threat to our national security. We, the sovereign electorate, deserve to know how our public servants are using our resources and abusing our reputation in the world.  
Barry Levine