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Summer Conference on the Moral Foundations of Capitalism
By Diana Hsieh @ 12:55 AM   
As some of you might know, the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism in South Carolina sponsors a three-day summer conference for undergraduates on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and the Moral Foundations of Capitalism. This summer's conference will run from June 5th to 9th at Clemson University.
It is an excellent conference, so I highly recommend it. (I was the graduate assistant last year.) The description on the web site is exactly accurate:
[The conference] brings together students from around the country and around the world to learn about capitalism with top professors in the field. Students attend lectures, participate in small group discussions, and have free time to discuss and debate the ideas presented in the formal sessions. Throughout the three days of sessions, students have ample opportunity to speak one-on-one with faculty and ask them questions in a more informal setting. The faculty this year will be Drs. Yaron Brook, Onkar Ghate, Eric Daniels, C. Bradley Thompson, and Andrew Bernstein. Full scholarships will be granted to qualified undergraduate students. Send completed applications to edan@clemson.edu. (Please e-mail that address with any questions too.) More details including the application form, a full description of the event, a video from last year, and a FAQ are available on the web site.
Here's the most critical bit of information: The deadline for applications is March 5. So if you're thinking that you might like to attend, don't delay!Labels: Announcements, Objectivism
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| Wednesday, February 27, 2008 |
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A Quick Letter on Abortion
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:49 AM
Here's a quick letter to my state representatives that I wrote in early February on a proposed bill to restrict abortion by requiring ultrasounds:
From: Diana Hsieh <Diana.Hsieh(at)Colorado.edu>
Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:59:56 -0700
Subject: SB 95
Dear Senators,
It is my understanding that SB 95 will be heard in the Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee on Monday. The bill would require "a physician to provide information regarding an ultrasound to a woman prior to the woman's decision whether to have an abortion."
I urge you to oppose this bill. Colorado ought not impose any such restrictions on abortion.
The purpose of the bill is not to require genuine informed consent. Every woman who chooses to have an abortion knows that she is destroying a potential (but not actual) human being -- not a shoe, plant, or a hippo. She violates no rights in doing so. She ought not be forced to look at pictures.
So the sole purpose of the bill is be to make abortion more costly. It is part of an attempt by foes of abortion to regulate it out of existence, since they cannot ban it out right. All such attempts [are] morally wrong. They ought to be opposed.
Diana Hsieh
Ph.D Candidate, Philosophy
University of Colorado, Boulder
Diana.Hsieh(at)Colorado.edu Ari Armstrong has more details in this blog post.Labels: Activism, Politics
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| Tuesday, February 26, 2008 |
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Some News from ARI
By Diana Hsieh @ 10:36 AM
Some news from ARI:
Mary Ann and Charles Sures' memoir of Ayn Rand, The Facets of Ayn Rand is now available on the web at http://www.facetsofaynrand.com.
On Thursday, March 13, 2008, at 7:30 PM, Dr. Keith Lockitch will be speaking on "Darwin and the Discovery of Evolution" at the Hilton Costa Mesa (3050 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92626). The lecture is free. More information is here.
I'm delighted by the topic, because in the process of grading student papers on the argument from design, I've realized that gross misunderstandings of evolutionary theory are quite common. It's definitely a topic that I'd like to study more, not just because it's relevant to the refutation of William Paley's argument for design, but also because I find it intrinsically interesting. Biology has always been -- by a long shot -- the most interesting of the sciences to me.
Brad Thompson published a great op-ed a while back entitled "An Open Letter to America's Students--Will Atlas Shrugged Change Your Life Forever?" If you haven't read it yet, you'll find it here.Labels: Announcements, Objectivism
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| Sunday, February 24, 2008 |
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The Undercurrent
By Diana Hsieh @ 12:20 PM
The Undercurrent now has a regularly updated blog. I've added it to my blogroll; it looks like it will be worth checking regularly. (Unfortunately, it doesn't show the full post on the main page. I find that annoying, as it's almost always easier to scroll past a long post that's not of interest than to click through to posts that are of interest. But oh well.)
For those of you unfamiliar with The Undercurrent, here's how they describe themselves:
The Undercurrent is a student-run newsletter. Its content is written primarily by (and for) college students across the country, with additional articles from the Ayn Rand Institute op-ed program and other writers.
We aim to release a print edition once a semester. The Undercurrent is distributed to college campuses nationally. If you're interested in distributing on your campus (or anywhere else), more information can be found here.
The Undercurrent's cultural commentary is based on the philosophy of Ayn Rand, a philosophy she named "Objectivism." Objectivism animates Ayn Rand's fiction, but it is first and foremost a systematic and comprehensive philosophy of life.
It holds that the universe is orderly, comprehensible, and conducive to human flourishing. It affirms that human beings are not only capable, but worthy of living on earth. The individual's own life and happiness comprise his own highest moral purpose. Man flourishes only in a society that values science, technology, freedom and capitalism. And beauty, too.
In these pages we hope to defend these values where they are under attack in our culture. To learn more about the ideas behind these values, you can begin by reading Ayn Rand's books, such as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, or by visiting the web site of the Ayn Rand Institute. Just FYI, any regular blogger for The Undercurrent is more than welcome to join my OBloggers mailing list.Labels: Activism, Objectivism
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| Saturday, February 23, 2008 |
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OActivists: An Easy Deal
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:00 AM
The new OActivists list -- my informal private mailing list for Objectivists committed to fostering positive cultural change by effective advocacy of Objectivist ideas -- will open for business on Tuesday. It already has over 80 subscribers, but I want to offer an easy deal for anyone interested in subscribing yet hesitant to make a commitment to engage in activism.
As you might recall from my original post, the list requires that subscribers meet two conditions.
First, subscribers must be Objectivists, meaning that they agree with and live by the principles of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. Subscribers should also support the mission and activities of the Ayn Rand Institute.
Second, subscribers must be committed to engaging in intellectual activism to promote Objectivist ideas in online or print forums on a semi-regular basis.
The first criterion is pretty straightforward. But what does satisfying the second require? I'm willing make that very, very easy. Basically, at least once every six months while you're on the list, you must post at least one comment advocating the Objectivist view on some news article, op-ed, or non-Objectivist blog. That comment doesn't have to be long: just a few sentences will do. You could even just link to or quote from an essay by Ayn Rand or an op-ed from ARI. You'll be alerted to plenty of opportunities to engage in that kind of minimal activism via the OActivists list itself.
In fact, you could even get started by posting a friendly comment on this positive review of The Fountainhead by a blogger.
Of course, I will encourage subscribers to do more than just the minimum: they can write letters to the editor, publish op-eds, speak to local groups, write to their representatives, and so on. In fact, I hope that a person's experience with a wee bit of activism will embolden more. However, that wee bit -- just one comment in a public forum every six months -- is all that's required to subscribe to the OActivists list. Basically, that's five minutes of time every six months. That's not asking much in exchange for the value of subscribing to the list, I don't think.
If that sounds like a fair deal to you, you are more than welcome to subscribe to OActivists via its web interface.Labels: Activism, Objectivism
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| Friday, February 22, 2008 |
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NY Times on British Health System
By Paul Hsieh @ 8:30 AM
The February 21, 2008 New York Times has published an article suprisingly critical of the British socialized National Health Service (or NHS). Here are some excerpts:Paying Patients Test British Health Care System
...One such case was Debbie Hirst's. Her breast cancer had metastasized, and the health service would not provide her with Avastin, a drug that is widely used in the United States and Europe to keep such cancers at bay. So, with her oncologist's support, she decided last year to try to pay the $120,000 cost herself, while continuing with the rest of her publicly financed treatment.
By December, she had raised $20,000 and was preparing to sell her house to raise more. But then the government, which had tacitly allowed such arrangements before, put its foot down. Mrs. Hirst heard the news from her doctor.
"He looked at me and said: 'I'm so sorry, Debbie. I've had my wrists slapped from the people upstairs, and I can no longer offer you that service,' " Mrs. Hirst said in an interview.
"I said, 'Where does that leave me?' He said, 'If you pay for Avastin, you'll have to pay for everything'" -- in other words, for all her cancer treatment, far more than she could afford.
Officials said that allowing Mrs. Hirst and others like her to pay for extra drugs to supplement government care would violate the philosophy of the health service by giving richer patients an unfair advantage over poorer ones.
...But in a final irony, Mrs. Hirst was told early this month that her cancer had spread and that her condition had deteriorated so much that she could have the Avastin after all -- paid for by the health service. In other words, a system that forbade her to buy the medicine earlier was now saying that she was so sick she could have it at public expense. I blogged about this issue last month ("Better Equal Than Good"). Now that this issue has gotten the attention of the New York Times, perhaps patients like Debbie Hirst and Collette Mills will finally get some justice (and medical care) from the NHS.
Note the central moral issue: Being allowed to spend one's own honestly-earned money on something that will benefit one's own life is considered "unfair" by the British government.
When a government uses force to stop people from acting in their rational self-interest, it is no surprise that the results are misery and death.
(Via Amit Ghate, who has a good post on this topic as well.)Labels: Health Care
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| Thursday, February 21, 2008 |
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Deliver Us From Evil
By Greg Perkins @ 8:04 AM
We just finished watching Deliver Us From Evil, an excellent 2006 documentary. Ugh, I haven't felt so nauseated in quite some time. I need a shower.
You need to rent it.
I didn't really know what it was about, other than that it was a documentary having to do with religion that Tammy had put in our Netflix queue. It started simply enough, circling around the mid-70's activities of one Oliver O'Grady, a Catholic priest in California. "I want to promise myself this is going to be the most honest confession of my life." Confession? The interwoven interview snippets began turning south as the potential for some "inappropriate contact" with a child was turning up in the discussions. With every chapter of the film, it only got worse.
Not one, or even a few, but dozens and dozens and perhaps hundreds of children. Both females and males. Sex with parents to get to kids. And he didn't have sex with just young teens, but adolescents, and children... down to five years old, two years old, nine months old! Chapter after chapter showing his eluding prosecution by way of upper-management promises to victims and government officials to get this dirtbag out of the priesthood and away from kids -- only to be quietly moved to another priesthood with more victims another city or two over. Decades of honing and using his predatory skills with the knowledge of the Church. More chapters with the focus shifting out to the patterns of buck-passing, indifference and coverup in the Church leadership as it struggles to deal with similar "issues" across the US, with culpability all the way up to the current Pope who (just prior to becoming Pope) was accused of conspiracy to cover up rampant sexual abuse in the US. He was granted immunity against prosecution for that by President Bush.
The film closes with where-are-they-now summary screens and various factoids: "Since 1950, sexual abuse has cost the Church over one billion dollars in legal settlements & expenses." "Over 100,000 victims of clergy sexual abuse have come forward in the United States alone." "Experts say more than 80% of sexual abuse victims never report their abuse."
I was struck by how O'Grady's "most honest confession" was nonetheless incredibly evasive; how his ongoing efforts at (ostensively) trying to make himself and his victims better were manipulative and oriented toward excusing and limiting the mind-bending scale of his atrocities. It was particularly chilling to watch him deploy some of the same disgusting manipulations he used on his young victims right before our eyes -- and sadly, we get to watch some of them continue to let him manipulate them.
Many of these victims still see the Church in a good light. Just one fellow, the father of a girl of five who was being raped by this monster, was shown feeling such outrage and betrayal that he wouldn't step foot in another church and had dropped his faith. Meanwhile, his daughter is shown smiling toward the Vatican buildings on a present-day trip by victims to address the Church (rebuffed). Near the end of the film we see her kneeling in prayer in some cathedral.
This is what faith and submission to authority wreak.Labels: Film, Religion
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| Wednesday, February 20, 2008 |
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Opportunity for Comment
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:58 AM
Via my "Ayn Rand" Google News Alert, I found this lovely little opportunity to post a positive comment supporting ARI's opposition to the proposed Mississippi law "that would revoke the business license of any restaurant that serves food to fat people." It's an OC Weekly blog post that explicitly mentions and quotes from this ARI press release.
In the future, I'll be posting these kinds of opportunities for comment on the OActivists mailing list.
Update: Here's my comment:
This proposed law is really too stupid for comment, but it's exactly what opponents of blaming tobacco companies for smokers predicted.
Restaurants should not be charged with the chore of refusing food to fat people. It's the job of the fat person to eat healthy food in moderate portions. Obviously, it's just as possible to do that well or badly at a restaurant as at home.
What's next, making sure that dorky people are well-dressed before allowing them to leave the house?!? Fat police, fashion police, it's all the same nanny state inanity. Comments do not appear immediately, by the way.Labels: Activism
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A New List: OActivists
By Diana Hsieh @ 8:38 AM
A message for Objectivists:
We Objectivists often lament the sorry state of the culture. Too often, faith and emotion are lauded as superior to reason, the individual is merely a means to some collective, service to others is deemed more noble than personal happiness, and rights are nearly forgotten in politics. Yet we're also inspired by the unexpected inroads forged by the Ayn Rand Institute over the past few years, particularly by the wild success of their program offering "Free Books for Teachers."
However, the Ayn Rand Institute cannot change the culture on its own, not even with our financial and moral support. It's just too big a task for a few dozen professional intellectuals. Objectivists must effectively advocate their values in the the forums open to them, if they want to see substantial and enduring change in the values of the culture.
Thanks to Lin Zinser's FIRM (Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine), I'm now convinced that so much more is possible than most people imagine when like-minded people join forces in a loose, ad hoc way. In those ongoing efforts, FIRM's "Activists" mailing list for people committed to promoting freedom and individual rights in medicine in Colorado has been of surprising value. It enables us to quickly and easily alert each other to opportunities to advocate good ideas, to discuss effective methods of argument, to praise and encourage the work well done, to report on our own accomplishments, to marvel at our impact on the debate, to inform others of useful sources of information, to brainstorm about venues for advocacy, to announce upcoming events, and more.
I've realized that a mailing list modeled on similar lines -- but specifically for Objectivists committed to fostering positive cultural change -- could be of similar value. So I've created OActivists @ OList.com. Here's the basic list description, including the requirements that all subscribers must satisfy:
OActivists is an informal private mailing list for Objectivists committed to fostering positive cultural change by effective advocacy of Objectivist ideas. Its basic purpose is to facilitate communication about matters of mutual interest to Objectivist activists, such as opportunities for advocacy, methods of persuasive argumentation, announcements of upcoming events, useful sources of information on issues, examples of advocacy, and the like.
To join the list, you must be an Objectivist, meaning that you agree with and live by the principles of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. You should support the mission and activities of the Ayn Rand Institute. You must also be committed to engaging in intellectual activism to promote Objectivist ideas in online or print forums on a semi-regular basis. (Notably, arguing with other Objectivists does not qualify as intellectual activism!) If you meet those criteria, please subscribe via the web interface. If you have any questions about the list -- including whether you qualify -- please e-mail me, the list's owner and administrator, at diana@dianahsieh.com. Subscribers will be expected to respect the purpose of the list. Those who prove themselves disruptive to its basic aims will be removed.
To give people time to subscribe, the list will not open for discussion until Tuesday, February 26th.
Finally: OActivists is not an Objectivist discussion list. Objectivists (including myself) have wasted far too much time and energy arguing amongst ourselves about minutia in far-off corners of the internet. We can do better. We can defend our values from attack in debates that matter. We can refute the standard strawmen of our philosophy. We can introduce people to rational, principled philosophic ideas. We can do all that more effectively if we communicate. That communication is what OActivists aims to make easy.
Update #1: OActivists has 55 members in just 24 hours. Excellent!
Update #2: Now it's 72 members in 48 hours. Even better!Labels: Activism, Announcements, Objectivism
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| Thursday, February 14, 2008 |
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Better Than a Monkey
By Diana Hsieh @ 7:05 AM
Ah, I'm soooo much better than that monkey Flibbert:
 Bears are strong and independent creatures who roam in the forest in search of food. Bears are usually gentle, but anger one and be prepared for their full fury! You're tough, you won't back down from a fight, you have a bit of a temper -- classic attributes of a bear. Intelligent and resourceful, though lazy at times, you are a fascinating creature of the wild. You were almost a: Kitten or a MonkeyYou are least like a: Chipmunk or a FrogWhat Cute Animal Are You?
Paul doesn't call me "Mrs. Bear" for nothin'! (Okay, well maybe he does, but nevermind that pesky detail.)Labels: Personal
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| Wednesday, February 13, 2008 |
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Testing the American Dream
By Paul Hsieh @ 11:30 AM
Having been told that it was extremely difficult for poor people to advance up the economic ladder in America, college graduate Adam Shepard conducted an interesting experiment.
He decided to start from the very bottom of the economic ladder, with "a gym bag, $25, and little else". He moved into a homeless shelter "on the wrong side of the tracks in Charleston, S.C." He set as his goal "to have a furnished apartment, a car, and $2,500 in savings within a year", without relying on his education or his former contacts.
He worked his way out of poverty, found work as a day laborer, made new friends, and landed a steady job at a moving company. He had to quit his experiment after 10 months because of learning of an illness in his family, "[b]ut by then he had moved into an apartment, bought a pickup truck, and had saved close to $5,000."
According to the article:The effort, he says, was inspired after reading "Nickel and Dimed," in which author Barbara Ehrenreich takes on a series of low-paying jobs. Unlike Ms. Ehrenreich, who chronicled the difficulty of advancing beyond the ranks of the working poor, Shepard found he was able to successfully climb out of his self-imposed poverty. Clearly, this shows the crucial role that a person's character, attitude, and work ethic play in whether he is successful or not, as opposed to the exact magnitude of material resources he starts with.
The full article tells more Adam Shepard's fascinating story: "Homeless: Can You Build a Life from $25?"
He has also written a book about his experience, entitled, Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream. It looks like his book has gotten consistently high reviews on Amazon. (We've ordered a copy already, but it's currently out of stock and on back order.)Labels: Economics, Politics
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| Monday, February 11, 2008 |
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Update on FIRM Activities
By Paul Hsieh @ 12:01 AM
Lin Zinser, executive director of FIRM (Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine), has just posted the following summary of our first year of activities to the FIRM blog. I hope this provides a concrete example of (and inspiration for) anyone who is interested in what can and has been accomplished through philosophically principled political activity.
(And thank you, Lin, for driving all around the state giving talks, appearing on radio and TV programs, attending nearly all of the mind-numbing 208 Commission meetings, and talking with our Colorado state legislators. And thanks also go to John Powers for his support of FIRM in the form of website design and sleek graphics for the brochure copies of Dr. Peikoff's essay that Lin has distributed around the state, to Jennifer Armstrong for her design of the FIRM logo and to Diana for creating the website and mailing lists and giving FIRM its online presence.)
-- Paul Hsieh, MD
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FIRM: Year End Results
by Lin Zinser
Today we celebrate the achievements of the FIRM coalition over the past year. FIRM was begun at the end of January 2007, and comprises a group of Colorado citizens with diverse careers, interests and ideas about what medicine and health insurance should (and could) look like in Colorado (and in America, for that matter). They come from different political parties and ideologies.
What these people do agree with is that the government should stop regulating, controlling and intervening in decisions that individuals make about what medical procedures they should have, whether to buy health insurance, and if so, what type of health insurance is appropriate for them and their families, and who should be their provider of services, among the thousand other decisions that people make regarding their health every year.
I am very appreciative for all of you who have supported the efforts of FIRM, and want to provide you the tangible record of your efforts. Briefly, in a summary form, they are as follows. From January 30, 2007, to January 31, 2008, FIRM coalition supporters had the following public results:
Letters to the editor -- 48 (including one in "USA Today")
OpEds/Columns -- 26
Citations in Media -- at least 10, perhaps more
Articles/Essays -- 2
Talks/Panel Discussions -- 9
Media appearances -- 6
Formal Proposal Submissions to 208 Commission -- 1
Public statements to 208 Commission -- 17
Letters to 208 Commission during their request for public comments -- at least 5, undoubtedly more
Letter to Colorado Medical Society -- 1
Public Statements to Medical Organizations -- Total 1
Public Statement to Colorado Joint Legislative Committee on Health and Human Services -- 1
Distribution of "Health Care is Not A Right", by Leonard Peikoff -- over 1,000 copies
These are fabulous results. The war is not yet won, and it will be difficult. Last year, at this time, one of the popular ideas in the public was the individual mandate to purchase insurance. This year, at least, it looks like there will not be a push for the individual mandate to purchase insurance in the State of Colorado, and that is due in no small part to the efforts of FIRM supporters -- of their own, individual efforts. Individual mandates are not dead, but they are no longer thriving.
This year, it appears that the effort will be to expand government health insurance to all of the uninsured children in the state, increasing the number of people on government programs that don't work, giving families the illusion of coverage, at an expensive price tag for all, including taxpayers. We expect to see additional restrictions on insurance policies, including benefit mandates and rating issues as well. So there is work yet to do.
Below are the details that support the summary above. I applaud every name on the list, and I also applaud all of you who have written, sent comments and forwarded any of these efforts to friends, family, co-workers, doctors or other health-care providers. Please remember as you read the list, that not everyone on the list may absolutely be in 100% agreement with all aims of FIRM. FIRM is a coalition, and its ideas are expressed in its Statement of Principles and Goals. These individuals have expressed their adherence to some of these goals in these particular writings or public statements.
A special thanks to Paul Hsieh for blogging so diligently and for co-writing with me an excellent article on the state of medicine and health insurance in America.
I have used smaller type so that this blog post is not so long.
Letters to the editor -- Total 48 (including one in "USA Today")
Diana Hsieh, Rocky Mountain News, 2/5/2007, "Paul Campos: Health Care"
Brian Schwartz, Denver Post, 3/3/2007, "Universal Health Care"
Richard Watts, Rocky Mountain News, 4/16/2007, "End government health-care meddling"
Richard Watts, Craig Daily Press, 4/19/2007, "Health Care"
Paul Hsieh, Denver Post, 4/24/2007, "Health Care is Not a Right"
Russell Shurts, Rocky Mountain News, 4/25/2007, "Health Care in Colorado"
Richard Watts, Rio Blanco Herald Times, 4/26/2007, "Health Care"
Paul Hsieh, Denver Post, 4/30/2007, "Two Arguments Why Health Care is Not a Right"
Brian Schwartz, Denver Post, 4/30/2007, "Fair Health Care"
Brian Schwartz, Rocky Mountain News, 5/3/2007, "Medical insurance restrictions are costly"
Brian Schwartz, Boulder Daily Camera, 5/3/2007, "Health Care: The government would worsen it"
Ralph Shnelvar, Denver Post, 5/6/2007, "Debating health care systems in U.S., Canada"
Hanah Krening, Denver Post, 5/23/2007, "Proposals to reform health care in Colorado"
Paul Hsieh, Pueblo Chieftain, 5/27/2007, "Socialized Medicine"
Richard Watts, Steamboat Pilot, 5/30/2007, "Too Much Control"
Richard Watts, Rocky Mountain News, 5/31/2007, "Health Care"
Richard Watts, Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, 5/31/2007, "Don't Allow the Government to Dictate Your Health Care"
Gina Liggett, Denver Post, 6/6/2007, "Free Market Health Care Reform"
Gina Liggett, Boulder Daily Camera, 6/9/2007, "There is No 'Right' to Any Health Care"
Gina Liggett, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, 6/13/2007, "Need vs. Right"
Gina Liggett, Carbondale Valley Sentinel, 6/14/2007, "Need vs. Right"
Gina Liggett, Pueblo Chieftain, 6/17/2007, "Health Panel Stacked Deck"
Brian Schwartz, Denver Post, 6/19/2007, "'Universal' Health Care"
Richard Watts, Grand Junction Free Press, 6/21/2007, "Health Care is Not a Right"
Richard Watts, Boulder Daily Camera, 6/22/2007, "Health Care is Not a Right"
Martin Buchanan, Denver Post, 6/27/2007, "Health Care For All: Whose Responsibility Is It?"
Gina Liggett, Rocky Mountain News, 6/28/2007, "Health Care is Not a 'Right', It's a Need"
Russell Shurts, Rocky Mountain News, 6/29/2007, "Social Responsibility"
Gina Liggett, USA Today, 6/29/2007, "Moore In Denial"
Brian Schwartz, Rocky Mountain News, 7/2/2007, "Health Insurance"
Diana Hsieh, Colorado Springs Gazette, 7/3/2007, "People, not government, responsible for health"
Gina Liggett, Denver Post, 7/6/2007, "Health Care in the US"
Gina Liggett, Northern Colorado Business Report, 7/6/2007, "Free Health Care?!"
Richard Watts, Rocky Mountain News, 7/7/2007, Health Care"
Paul Hsieh, Rocky Mountain News, 7/12/2007, "In-Store Health Clinics"
Diana Hsieh, Rocky Mountain News, 7/17/2007, "Free Market Medicine is the Answer"
Gina Liggett, Colorado Confidential, 7/21/2007, "Health Care"
Paul Hsieh, Denver Post, 7/31/2007, "Rising Health Care Costs"
Richard Watts, Denver Post, 7/31/2007, "SCHIP Program"
Lin Zinser, Rocky Mountain News, 8/7/2007, "Health Care in Colorado"
Brian Schwartz, Rocky Mountain News, 8/13/2007, "Free Markets Key to Affordable Health Care"
James Schroeder, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, 8/28/2007, "Single Payer Health Plan Would Be Costly and Unfair"
Brian Schwartz, Denver Post, 8/31/2007, "Health Savings Accounts"
Brian Schwartz, Denver Post, 9/7/2007, "Funding Health Care"
Russell Shurts, Grand Junction Free Press, 9/13/2007, "We Shouldn't Be Forced"
Brian Schwartz, Boulder Daily Camera, 9/24/2007, "We Do Not Have Free Market Care"
Brian Schwartz, Boulder Daily Camera, 1/4/2008, "Free Market Health Insurance Needed"
Brian Schwartz, Rocky Mountain News, 1/17/2008, "Politically Controlled Insurance Is a Disease"
OpEds/Columns -- Total 26
Brian Schwartz, Boulder Daily Camera, 2/11/2007, "Government-run auto repair? Yes!"
Ari Armstrong, Boulder Weekly, 2/15/2007, "Colorado Medical Socialism"
Ari Armstrong, "What's Right With Colorado Health Care", 4/8/2007, Independence Institute
Brian Schwartz, Rocky Mountain News, 4/28/2007, "Government controls violate rights, raise costs, cut access"
Paul Hsieh, Rocky Mountain News, 6/2/2007, "Free market holds key to ensuring quality for Coloradans"
Paul Hsieh, Boulder Daily Camera, 6/10/2007, "Socialized Medicine is Wrong for State"
Paul Hsieh, Pueblo Chieftain, 6/10/2007, ""Blue ribbon panel prescribes wrong approach on health care"
Linn and Ari Armstrong, Grand Junction Free Press, 6/11/2007, "Health socializers ignore benefits of liberty, harms of controls"
Brian Schwartz, Denver Post, 8/5/2007, "Don't Model State Reforms on Medicaid: How Should Colorado Lawmakers Fix A Broken System"
Russell Shurts, Rocky Mountain News, 8/7/2007, "Socialized Medicine Just Another Gang Operation"
Ralph Shnelvar, Boulder Daily Camera, 8/14/2007, "Your Government Doesn't Care"
Brian Schwartz, Boulder Daily Camera, 8/26/2007, "Warning: Medicaid is Hazardous to Your Health"
James Schroeder, Grand Junction Free Press, 8/23/2007, "Beware of unintended consequences of health care proposals"
Linn and Ari Armstrong, Grand Junction Free Press, 9/3/2007, "Reformers demand more labor for politically-run medicine"
Paul Hsieh, Ayn Rand Institute, 9/18/2007, "'Single-Payer' Health Care Is Anything but Free"
Brian Schwartz, Rocky Mountain News, 9/26/2007, "Government Control Is Bad For Your Health"
Linn and Ari Armstrong, Grand Junction Free Press, 10/15/2007, "Insurance Mandates Threaten Your Health"
Linda Gorman, Independence Institute, 10/24/2007, "It's Official: Medicaid Managed Care Does Not Save Money"
James Schroeder, Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, 11/18/2007, "Expanding Medicaid Eligibility Will Mean Fewer Doctors Accept It"
Brian Schwartz, 11/21/2007, Independence Institute, "Ritter's health care cure would prove more crippling to Coloradans"
Linda Gorman, Independence Institute, 12/3/2007, "Health care "reform" in Colorado: Go home and die; it's cheaper"
James Schroeder, Grand Junction Free Press, 12/26/2007, "Here's Your Prescription"
Brian Schwartz, TCS Daily, 1/14/2008, "Compulsory Medical Insurance as Collective Punishment"
Linn and Ari Armstrong, Grand Junction Free Press, 1/21/2008, "More Political Control of Medicine Comes With Higher Costs"
Linda Gorman and Ari Armstrong, Rocky Mountain News, 1/30/2008, "A Very Costly Health Care Solution"
Brian Schwartz, Colorado Springs Gazette, 1/31/2008, "Compulsory Insurance as Collective Punishment"
Citations in Media -- At least 10, perhaps more
Lin Zinser quoted in Colorado Springs Gazette, 5/22/2007, "State health care commission narrows focus"
Paul Hsieh quoted on Mike Rosen Radio show, 6/7/2007
Brian Schwartz cited in Face the State, 8/27/2007, "Does the Effort to Provide Government Health Care For All Kids Leave Too Many Behind?"
Brian Schwartz quoted in Denver Post, 8/31/2007, "Experts pan health savings accounts"
James Schroeder quoted in Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, 10/12/2007, "Community Discusses Health Care Reform"
Brian Schwartz quoted in Rocky Mountain News, 10/5/2007, "Audience at health care forum backs single-payer proposal"
Ari Armstrong and Brian Schwartz cited in Rocky Mountain News, 10/13/2007, Jason Salzman Column
Brian Schwartz and Paul Hsieh quoted in Colorado Springs Gazette editorial, 1/3/2008, "Health Care, Ho! State Should Avoid Repeat of Massachusetts"
Linda Gorman cited in Rocky Mountain News, 1/10/2008, "Mandatory Health Plan Participation Opposed"
Linda Gorman and Brian Schwartz cited in Face the State, 1/31/2008, "Minority Report Critical of Health Commission Findings"
Articles/Essays -- Total 2
Paul Hsieh, Colorado Medicine (March-April 2007 issue), "An Open Letter to Colorado Physicians"
Lin Zinser and Paul Hsieh, The Objective Standard (Winter 2007-2008 issue), "Moral Health Care vs. 'Universal Health Care'"
Guest Speaker/Panel Discussions -- Total - 9
Lin Zinser, "The Crisis in Colorado Health Care", 4/17/2007, Colorado Springs Republican Women
Lin Zinser, Aurora Rotary Club, 6/11/2007
Lin Zinser, Grand Junction, 7/19/2007
Lin Zinser, Castle Rock Republicans, 7/20/2007
Lin Zinser, Jefferson County Town Hall Meeting, 8/18/2007
Lin Zinser, Greeley Centennial Rotary Club, 9/6/2007
Lin Zinser, El Paso County Republican Women, 9/17/2007
Lin Zinser, Mesa County Republicans, 9/21/2007
Lin Zinser, Gateway Rotary Club, 9/26/2007
Media appearances -- Total 6
Lin Zinser, 5/10/2007, Amy Oliver Radio Show
Lin Zinser, 5/18/2007, John Caldera TV Show "Independent Thinking"
Brian Schwartz, 6/17/2007, John Andrews Radio Show
Lin Zinser, 7/26/2007, KNZZ Report Radio Show
Lin Zinser, 7/26/2007, Grand Junction TV 5:00 news
Lin Zinser, 9/6/2007, Amy Oliver Radio Show
Formal Proposal Submissions to 208 Commission -- Total 1
Brian Schwartz, "Free Markets, Affordability & Individual Rights"
Public statements to 208 Commission Meetings -- Total 17
Paul Hsieh (read by Lin Zinser), 1/30/2007
Brian Schwartz, 10/4/2007
James Schroeder, 10/11/2007
Lin Zinser, 1/30/2007, 1/31/2007, 2/21/2007, 3/28/2007, 4/27/2007, 5/17/2007, 5/18/2007, 6/19/2007, 7/18/2007, 8/23/07, 9/24/2007, 11/02/2007, 12/13/2007, 1/10/2008
Letters to 208 Commission during their request for public comments -- Total at least 5, undoubtedly more
Lin Zinser, Diana Hsieh, Paul Hsieh, Betty Evans, Richard Watts, and others
Letter to Colorado Medical Society - Total 1
James Schroeder, November 2007
Public Statements to Medical Organizations - Total 1
Paul Hsieh, Arapahoe-Douglas-Elbert Medical Society, 6/21/2007
Public Statement to Colorado Joint Legislative Committee on Health and Human Services - Total 1
Lin Zinser, January 31, 2008
Labels: Health Care, Politics
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| Sunday, February 10, 2008 |
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Police Neutrality Concretized
By Diana Hsieh @ 9:17 AM
When police remain neutral between criminals and law-abiding citizens, who do you think wins?
If you're not just quite sure -- or if you'd just like a dramatic illustration -- watch this mind-boggling video of Berkeley protesters forcibly preventing people from peacefully conducting their business at a local Marine Corps office.
Nick Provenzo has created a petition condemning "the resolutions of the City Council of Berkeley, California which declare that United States Marine Corps recruiters are 'uninvited and unwelcome intruders' within Berkeley city limits and applauds those who choose to 'impede' the Marines in their recruiting mission."
I have chosen not to sign the petition, as much as I abhor the City Council's actions. I cannot reasonably pledge "not to conduct any business within the Berkeley city limits or patronize any company which has its headquarters within Berkeley," as it requires.
However, if you feel you can do so honestly, please do sign the petition. Last I read, it has over 4,000 signatures. More would be better.Labels: Politics
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| Saturday, February 09, 2008 |
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