Our health care system is notoriously inefficient. Spending is too high, while quality is too low. Some patients undergo expensive treatments that provide little or no benefit. At the same time, other patients don't receive some inexpensive treatments that could materially improve their health.

The American ran a really great article last week on some recent demographic shifts in America's biggest cities (esp. New York). Joel Kotkin documents how urban areas have increasingly transformed into playgrounds where an elite class entertains themselves, where the middle-class (and almost anyone with kids) can barely afford to hang around.

Public officials aren't supposed to change their minds. But I firmly believe that it's important to keep learning. Last week, while I was in Connecticut meeting with members of the gay and lesbian community from across the state, I had the opportunity to tell them what I've learned about marriage, and about equality.

On June 11, Dr. Frank Low, a pioneer of infrared astronomy, died after a long illness in Tucson, AZ. Until the mid-60s, infrared astronomy was virtually impossible to conduct on Earth due to the absorption of infrared radiation (IR) waves by water vapor molecules in lower atmosphere. While working at Texas instruments in the early 1960s, Dr. Low developed a bolometer, an electomangetic radiation detector, that could absorb infrared wavelengths at high altitudes. Dr. Low was instrumental in the development of the first IR space-based telescope Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) which identified over 500,000 IR sources during its 10 month lifecycle in 1983.

Today I came home from work with another headache, jaw sore from clenching my teeth, drained emotionally and physically. I spent the whole day with people whose lives are being ripped apart. Hours spent trying to answer questions that had no answers, offer encouragement where none was merited, and ultimately knowing I failed on every level. I work for a not-for-profit that provides support for disabled adults. The majority of people I work with personally are mildly mentally retarded and have several major medical issues. Cuts mean that the 25 adults I work with as a direct support giver will be without any assistance beyond whatever the federal programs offer, such as social security disability.

In the real world, I am an insurance broker and a small business owner. In these dual roles, I am acutely aware of how difficult it is to for small businesses to find affordable health insurance. This is why I've concluded that any healthcare reform in America that exempts small business is no reform at all. As an exercise to highlight the difference in purchasing power between large organizations and small businesses, I ran the following scenario: what would it cost to insure the 40 GOP senators in a small group plan. This exercise is possible because community rating for small groups uses very little data. And the little data required to rate this group is public data - date of birth and marital status - found on Wikipedia. I ran this hypothetical business - let's call it Harry & Louise Healthcare Consulting - through the CareFirst BlueCross

The "co-op plan" for health care reform is barely a week old as a concept, and only days old as a draft proposal by the Senate Finance Committee, but already many have declared that it can't work.

Connecticut state troopers' surveillance of Green Party activists serves as the latest warning of whether we should allow government to conduct political intelligence and engage in "preventive" policing.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) official testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about a new report on firearms trafficking to Mexico that states, in part, that "available evidence indicates a large proportion of the firearms fueling Mexican drug violence originated in the United States."

I have been to a number of professional development sessions lately. The subject of engaging our students is a hot topic and has been discussed in a number of educational forums. What I find is amazing, in all the workshops, conferences, etc. I attend, is how willing many of my colleagues are willing to share.

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