Right.

Every American should listen to this morning's excellent NPR story, "MS Patient Falls Into American Insurance Gap," by Joanne Silberner.

To add insult to injury, we in America -- taxpayers, insurers, and the patient himself, Jeffrey Rubin -- will surely pay far more for comparable care than the...

As a HuffPo writer, my biggest anxieties flow from my direct link to the universe with no editor censoring or checking what I write. I often envy my mainstream media colleagues who have careful editors who fact-check and at least provide some time-lag in case I dash off something intemperate...

Jesse Helms has passed, and what should we say? We can extend our condolences to the Helms family, who are not responsible for his misdeeds and odious views.

What else can you say? Here is one approach, according to my morning Tribune:

"Jesse Helms was a kind, decent,...

My previous column mentioned that the talented progressive blogger Brian Beutler was shot and wounded in a stupid and vicious botched mugging over a few cellphones. Further details of the incident can be found at http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/leading_liberal_blogger_shot_i.php.

I understand from his friends that Brian is recovering nicely. Unfortunately, living in...

I spent yesterday morning in meetings with epidemiologists and community groups discussing where troubled youth obtain handguns used in the many homicides that blight Chicago. The proliferation of cheap, mass produced firearms in the late 19th century remains one of the worst things ever to happen in urban America.

I...

Paul Krugman writes terrifically about so many things--most recently his dissection of America's insanely unbalanced subsidies for owner-occupied housing.

Yet when the name "Barack Obama" appears, the great economist seems to lose his moorings. This morning's column slams Obama for his alleged centrist tendencies.

As Krugman begins:

My doppelganger http://www.samefacts.com/archives/iran_/2008/06/a_modest_proposal_a_grand_nuclear_bargain_between_israel_and_iran.php makes a modest proposal that is so crazy it just might work.

Israel recently mounted a huge military exercise involving more than 100 F15 fighters. This rehearsal for an attack on Iran might have been bluff or bluster. Israelis across the political spectrum are wondering whether...

Cindy McCain's had painful back and knee problems her doctors did not effectively address. To deal with the resulting pain, she started using--then misusing--Percocet and Vicodin. Like many others, she became dependent. She stole some medication, obtained some bogus scripts, and got caught.

Except for her privileged social position, much...

Apologies to Woody Guthrie for that one....

I was rushing home late from work last night, and I ducked into a Subway to grab something for the train home. The guy behind me ordered a foot-long cheese steak. He watched the gobs of meat and melted provolone crackling on the...

Tony Pugh of McClatchy Newspapers recently ran an article comparing the McCain and Obama health plans.

The flaws in Pugh's article are noted in a great posting by Publius in obsidianwings.

Despite these flaws, Pugh's article is valuable because it gives the problem a human face: in this...

Senator Obama has come under fire from William Kristol and others for not mentioning military service at Wesleyan. Frank Shaeffer has blogged about this issue and has rightly noted the importance of progressives honoring the military http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/william-kristols-hypocris_b_104674.html

Of course, Senator Obama should have noted military service in his...

Babylonian creation stories described a slithery evil water goddess who tried to annihilate mankind by sending a deadly flood. We are saved after an epic battle by a friendlier god. As Jack Miles recounts in his beautiful God: A Biography, early polytheist myths resonated in later monotheistic traditions, in which...

The Perrones arrived from Italy with the shirts on their back. They scratched and saved to help young Ferdinand attend medical school. He became a country doctor in upstate New York, where he spent his life treating local farmers. His two sons served in the US Navy. One had a...

Every Saturday, I pick up my brother-in-law Vincent at his group home in the Chicago southland. We go out for dinner and a movie or whatever with family and sometimes close friends. When I drop him back home, I have a few minutes of conversation with Rayshawn, the weekend overnight...

John Edwards endorsement pretty much ratifies what we already know: Barack Obama will be our party's nominee for president. This is another great day for those of us who support the Obama campaign. I believe this is a great day for all Democrats.

It is a bittersweet day for...

The Democratic campaign grinds on, and it's wearing us all down. Two months ago, there was a rather good-natured rivalry between the Clinton and Obama folks. Many of us in the Obama camp respected Hillary Clinton's policy substance and agreed with most of her policy positions. Many us were sad...

We have serious issues with Iran. The Iranians have emerged as the main beneficiary of the Iraq war. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been saying disgusting things about Israel. He and other Iranian leaders seem determined to acquire nuclear weapons. It's not clear that we can or will stop them. Many...

This is the story of MD Anderson's treatment of Lisa Kelly, an underinsured cancer patient. The hospital asked for $105,000 cash up-front before it would admit her.

This story comes from the excellent newspaper site of the http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB120934207044648511.html">Wall Street Journal.

MD Anderson is shredded--as it should...

Deep in his World War II memoirs, Winston Churchill laments that the democracies spent the phony war hesitant and bickering, thus allowing the Germans to systematically execute a scientific war plan. November is a long way off, but right now the Democrats seem trapped by some of the same problems....

According to a recent interview, John McCain believes that Hamas wants Barack Obama to be president. In McCain's words:

All I can tell you Jennifer is that I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. So apparently has Danny Ortega and...