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LNewson

Listed below are comments made by LNewson between Thursday, 26th June 2008 and Monday, 7th September 2009.

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'They're going to be pretty demoralised' 3:47pm on 07 Sep 2009 So Mark, did you ask Mr Miller if he and his friends in the Republican party can come up with a better way of getting affordable healthcare to Americans who are unlucky enough to have lost their job and got sick or injured? Did you find out whether he even cares about the problem?

In the part of the interview you posted, he seems to be just gloating about the Democrats' failure. Is his main motivation to make Obama and the Democrats fail? This is what Rush Limbaugh says he wants. It would be nice if you would ask the Americans you interview the same kind of probing questions that British politicians and academics have to face. Are you not allowed to do that?
Obama's intriguing CIA pick 00:58am on 07 Jan 2009 Justin,
Like you, I am a Brit living in the US who is lucky enough to have good medical insurance. Having experienced the system, I can see why some people over here think it is so good.
Recently I went to the doctor with a mysterious and painful rash. Within four hours I had seen a dermatologist, had a biopsy, 18 blood tests, an echo-cardiogram, and an ultra-sound test to see if I might have an aortic aneurysm. I felt truly well-cared for and also quite scared. I had wondered if the rash was shingles or if it might have been caused by my hot water bottle. The conclusion was that it must have been the hot water bottle.
I am sure that my GP in the UK would have just told me it wasn't shingles and to stop using a hot water bottle and see if it gets better. The outcome would have been the same at a fraction of the cost.
I am not criticising the doctors I saw, who were very knowledgeable and professional and (I'm sure) gave me exactly the right diagnostic tests. But this kind of luxury care for the lucky few cannot be sustained if the medical system is to give value for money. Whatever it's faults, a medical culture that doesn't try to provide the "best care money can buy" and instead listens to the judgements of an organisation like the National Centre for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is bound to deliver better health to the population as a whole.
Morphing America? 9:48pm on 05 Nov 2008 A very good comment about the difference between the United States and Europe was made by a Frenchman in Michael Moore's film "Sicko". He said something like: "In Europe the government is afraid of the people while in America the people are afraid of the government".
Defiant in Defiance? 4:06pm on 30 Oct 2008 On the subject of the worrying uninformed voter:
The US Constitution is based on the idea that democracy works because people vote according to their *enlightened* self interest. And then they have this "freedom of speech" dogma in the constitution which acts against the idea of people being enlightened. "Freedom of speech" has been interpreted as meaning it impossible to prevent people like politicians, advertisers, religious zealots and talk show host lying and manipulating people to behave against their own self interest. As a result, trusting people are persuaded to elect politicians who are corrupt or careless, buy consumer goods they can't afford and take out loans they can't repay. As the press and educational establishment became increasingly fragmented and ineffectual in the U.S., the problem became worse. I think this is something that really needs to be addressed in many democracies, I think.
America's fear of big government 10:31pm on 27 Oct 2008 I have been living here for a couple of years having previously lived in the UK. I agree very much with the your suggestion that Americans seem to see "big government" as something everyone should be against in the same way that people should be against domestic abuse or polluted rivers. In practical terms, I guess, big government is actually seen as worse than domestic abuse or polluted rivers.
And yet, my "liberal" friends want all the things a bigger government might be able to bring (if efficiently run). It is a strange disconnect. It is as if they can't believe government can be efficient so why take the chance of letting it do something.
Perhaps they have a point. Even so, I am looking forward to moving back to the UK.
Will Obama be cool or warm? 9:46pm on 07 Oct 2008 Justin, I thought you might be interested to know of a body of recent research in social psychology which may provide some interesting insight into why Obama has an increasing lead in the opinion polls.
The research suggests that when times are tough, people are more willing to choose as a leader someone of a social category that they would not see as leaders. For example, a woman is more likely to be given a chief executive job when the company is in trouble. a man is more likely to chosen as the head of a team of nurses if the team is judged to be dysfunctional.
The researchers are Michelle Ryan and Alex Haslam at the University of Exeter. They have called their research programme "The Glass Cliff". To see more just put "the glass cliff exeter into google.
Monochrome thinking 4:17pm on 14 Aug 2008 When I saw the headline "monochrome thinking" I thought that today's piece was going to be about the coverage in the main American media of the Georgia/Russia situation.
The spectre of the paedophile 05:46am on 27 Jun 2008 Barista, I think your comment (number 36) is very sane and demonstrates knowledge and experience. I hope that you are or will become someone who can influence policy on the matter of paedophiles.
I would be interested in your views on whether you think some girls unconsciously begin to behave in a provocative way as a result of watching the dancing and acting that they see again and again on MTV and the like.
The spectre of the paedophile 11:49pm on 26 Jun 2008 Doesn't the fact that many people recall having been "abused" as children suggest that meeting a paedophile it may not be such a terrible thing? If it were wouldn't there be more damaged adults around. It is time for us survivors to put their hands up. I had "experiences" with two different men when I was a child. One of them did "groom" me and try to touch me. But it was OK. He wasn't a bad man. He just wanted something I did now want. I had similar but much nastier experiences when I was a teenager with men my own age.
I honestly feel that my experiences as a "victim" of paedophilia did not harm me at all. And yet I do feel that my daughter missed out - and may even have been a little damaged - because when she was aged 6 to 12 she didn't have the same kind of freedom to play outside and be independent as I had at that age. The fear of "strange men" seemed to pervade the neighbourhood and yet there had never been a single incident to my knowledge.

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