I always said, when I grow up, I want to be a proper journalist, a journalist in the old style of journalists- before Woodward and Bernstein, when journalists were real hard hitters, going miles for a story, as well as their Camels. When they wore hats like this, and yelled phrases like "stop the presses". Journalists like Hemingway, Dreiser, and Anderson. Most of them are gone by now... or too old to write- but it's like if all the greats got together one night and had a love child , it would be Philip Dawdy of Seattle.
Philip is cut from that very cloth of what makes the old fashioned journalist- the way he seeks out stories, and writes them. True, he may not use the shoe leather the way the greats does- he uses a computer- but when he comes up with something, it's a goodie. A real diamond.
He posted such a gem yesterday, and it seems to have gotten lost in the annual Christmas/New Years, I'm not surfing the net, week- which is a shame. It's really a must read, especially if you are an American.
According to Philip's piece- Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) from Michigan, was given a "gift" of 1.25 billion dollars,because (she)
was a passionate advocate for the so-called public option who voted to support a bill without a public option in exchange for inclusion of $1.25 billion in new federal spending to support "centers of excellence" in depression treatment.
The article continues-
In October, Stabenow introduced the so-called ENHANCED Act of 2009 on the Senate floor. But the Act was not included in the original Senate health care reform bill. Instead, it showed up virtually unnoticed in the manager's amendment (as the Senate amendments are known) on December 19. Was this inclusion in exchange for Sen. Stabenow's vote? What would these depression centers do (the relevant text begins on page 277)? Are they really needed? Depression is, after all, a well-researched and understood phenomenon and has been for decades and billions of dollars federal, state and pharma have been focused upon it. Why does the Senator believe that depression and bipolar disorder exist at twice the rate as does NIH? Is she engaging in scare tactics? How would these centers improve access to health insurance coverage for uninsured Americans, which is what I thought health care reform was supposed to be about?
You can read the article in it's entirety here. I strongly suggest you do, especially if you are an American. This health bill is going to affect every one of us, and the jury (at least for me) is still out on if this is a good bill or a bad bill. Or just a bill sitting on Capitol Hill.
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9 comments:
I have to be honest: I'm really, really not a Furious Seasons fan.
Dawdy's very good at digging through online documents. But so are an awful lot of other journalist types, given that said documents are available online; if Dawdy spent his time hunkered over documents at government offices, where real secrets are buried, I'd be much more impressed.
My biggest problem is that everything he writes comes with his own well-cemented agenda: Pharmaceuticals are inherently bad because Dawdy says so, everything is overdiagnosed because Dawdy says so, we need to cut back on treating everything because Dawdy says so.
I guess it's fair to call this advocacy journalism, but I don't care for it anyway. Dawdy is more than entitled to his opinions, but I'm hardly going to take him at his word that this provision in bad. Frankly, I'd need to see evidence from a much less biased source.
I'm pretty sure I'm in the blogosphere minority in my dislike of Dawdy's "journalism," but there it is.
Thanks for the post,
Carter
Hi Carter!
Everyone has people who like and dislikes them- Philip has been writing long enough to have fans and have people who dislike them. I know I have a few readers who don't like him, but like me, and I know he has readers who have read me from the pieces of mine he put up to help me start writing again.....and don't come back at all.
I just admire anyone who can slosh through a MA in Journalism, like you, LIz Spikol, Larry P, or Dawdy- I sure as hell couldn't do that. I went w/ Lit and creative writing instead.
Just thought this was eye opening, since the new health care bill, if and when it passes, is going to affect all of us some how.
I love Furious Seasons. If I spent my time worrying about a persons personality and what I "hoped" they did and that was a defining rule as to how many blogs could be allowed to exist-many of them would be gone.
Big pharma does suck. People can do their own research if they don't like Philip. If they don't have the skills to do the research then...ummm...how can you support or dislike something you've no clue about?
Anyhoo...When I see someone else break as much news to me like that then I'll like them too. Until then-Phil rocks and I'll keep on donating.
But...as always...opinions are like...eyeballs....everyone has them.
Lili,
Been loving your comments over the years on FS.
And yes, I always send Philip a bit for every fundraiser. He even gets a small thing from the cat every time. How many people can say that?
There just aren't many bloggers out there that do what Philip does. I can only think of Pharmalot, and Liz.
Have a wonderful new year.... thank you for stopping by!
You are welcome Susan-Happy new year!
I think Edward R. Murrow was a revolutionary in journalism too.
It's called a bribe. Our legislaors are bought and paid for by the health insurance industry. Don't confuse health insurance with health care. I heard several politicians proudly boasting that "30 million more Americans will have health insurance" after this bill passes. Translated into American English: 30 million more Americans will have a piece of paper that says perhaps needed health care will be paid for and perhaps it won't...depending on the insurance company's return on investment.
I feel like we lost more by letting this pass.
Its a wonder we aren't all getting pitch forks and rising up against these bastards!
Hope I'm welcome here! :)
Dark Tower,
Any friend of Marks, and who has two cats who look exactly like my two girls is more than welcome here. IN fact, let me pull up a chair by the cyber fire and open a can of tuna for you! ;-)
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