Author: Danielle Levy

Now that we’re familiar with the idea of carbon footprints, we can add another even more crucial item to our list, our water footprints. The idea is still new, proposed by a Dutch hydro-engineer, Arjen Hoekstra . At a recent conference in Sweden attended by some 2000 scientists, activists and political representatives, he tried to keep a low profile. Nevertheless his idea of “water footprint” became the center of debate. According to his formula, our water footprint is both the water we actually consume, and even more important our virtual footprint, or the water used to manufacturer the products we use. Using his formula, a cup of coffee requires 140 liters of water, a hamburger 2400 liters and a pair of jeans 10,000. How far the idea will go is not yet known, but the fact that our consumerism has consequences for already scarce resources is becoming even more inescapable.

For many the prospect of death is too horrendous to contemplate so that any example how to handle it needs to be hailed. In this case the example is set by Senator Ted Kennedy writing a letter to the Massachusetts legislature to ask a law be changed so that should he be unable to someone may be appointed to finish his term rather than wait the 4 to 6 months for a special election. Some may see politics behind his action. Yet, given his brain cancer his request holds every indication that he’s facing the death that is before him and taking care of those things that are important to him before he goes. The courage and clarity it speaks of are not only moving they do become a vibrant example of how to face our last chapter.

The healthcare debate has hit many strident notes, and even more troubling is that the debate has been subject to distortion and misinformation. These erroneous pronouncements serve no one safe the egos of those who originate them. Certainly they do not advance the cause of the public good. One of the underlying distortions is about the concept of rationing. Critics speak of rationing health care as if the idea was unheard of in the United States and probably unique to countries like the U.K. and their policies regarding the NHS. Is that really so? Is the idea of rationing health care something alien to the practice of healthcare in the U.S.? Some will be tempted to say yes. And yet, doesn’t the market itself ration healthcare? Aren’t the uninsured, anywhere from 44 to 47 million people, a manifestation of this rationing? Even factoring in that some among the uninsured could afford health care, the proportion is still significant enough to warrant notice. The market similarly rations many things by creating a discrepancy in the affordability of goods and services. It’s not a question of those who can afford diamonds and those who can’t or those who can buy Mercedes and those who can barely afford old clunkers. It’s a question of econ 101 and the point whereby the supply and demand curves meet delineating where some can afford certain goods and some are automatically excluded. That may explain why some can afford good health care plans and some have to do with high co-pays for little coverage, but it’s still a form of rationing.
The problem is not about the dynamics of econ 101 or even about rationing. Unless we see through our games, and let go of our ignorance, fears and excuses, we won’t be able to think clearly enough about health care to know a good plan when we hear it.

Twenty of the U.S.’ 50 states allow some form of corporal punishment in their schools, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. A new report done by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union reveals that more than 200,000 schoolchildren are subjected to some form of corporal punishment and that disabled students tend to be more often punished than others. The two organizations are urging lawmakers at the federal and state levels to ban nationwide physical punishment of students with disabilities.
We live in an era with more problems than we are able to solve. But this is one problem not only so egregious, it is one we can easily do something about. Spanking or physically punishing a child with autism, cerebral palsy or depression is something that ought to make us outraged enough to demand zero tolerance.