 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.trinitonian.com |
How the world sees Greece
Friday, December 6, 2013
Greek life elects new officers, now in shadow period
“I could not be happier about being elected,” said Pederson, “I value my participation in Greek life and I am excited that I get to play a hand in ensuring that future Trinity students have access to the same life enriching opportunities ...
Greek Sing 2013 Goes Off As A Success
Greek Sing 2013 Goes Off As A SuccessOnward StateThe annual Greek Sing went down last night at Eisenhower Auditorium, with members of Penn State's Greek community putting on a Broadway style showcase. Although Greek Sing was created in 1968 as an opportunity for fraternities and sororities to show ...Everyone's WrongClemson Tiger Newsall 2 news articles »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT onwardstate.com |
Patrick Daunt obituary
Force behind EU action to support the rights of people with disabilities
Patrick Daunt, who has died aged 88, led the European commission's first initiative in support of disabled people. From 1982 to 1987, he laid the foundations for the commission's policy in this field, initially focusing on employment, transport and education. His work culminated in 2010 with the EU's ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and its new task of working to ensure that disability rights became part of the mainstream of EU legislation.
Patrick's book Meeting Disability: A European Response (1991) gave a frank and still relevant account of the obstacles to creating new policies both inside the commission and in working with governments. In the early 90s, he provided the first account of special needs education in the new democracies of eastern Europe for a book that I edited. I got to know him more fully when we co-edited a book on teacher education for special needs in Europe.
The son of Winifred (nee Wells) and her husband, Francis Daunt, a doctor, Patrick was born in Hastings, East Sussex, and won an open scholarship to Rugby school. After war service in the Royal Navy, he gained a first-class classics degree at Oxford and for two years was a lecturer at Sydney University. Then he went on what he described as a two-year "walkabout" in the outback, working as a stockman while he considered what to do with his life.
For 12 years he taught at Christ's Hospital school, West Sussex, and in 1965 became headmaster of Thomas Bennett community college in Crawley, one of Britain's earliest and largest comprehensive schools, and chair of the national Campaign for Comprehensive Education, in which he worked with the educationist Caroline Benn. His book Comprehensive Values (1975) was a statement of what such schools were trying to achieve.
After leaving the European commission, he worked with the first post-communist government of Romania as a Unesco consultant. His efforts resulted in the creation of four pilot schools in different regions for children with disabilities, at a time when they were expected to live permanently in poor-quality institutions and there were few family supports or services in the community.
Faced with civil servants from the old regime who strenuously resisted change, he co-founded Reninco, a network of governmental and non-governmental organisations keen to bring about improvement, which has gone from strength to strength. His legacy continues in working links between Romanian and other European universities, under the EU Tempus programmes. Patrick also ensured the provision of trained teachers to support less experienced colleagues in Romania's schools.
When he and I were keynote speakers in the formal setting of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, he carried the day with the warmth of his personality as well as by the power of his arguments for the inclusion of children with disabilities in every Chinese school – a policy that was incorporated into a five-year government plan a few years later, albeit with disappointing outcomes.
He spent his last years teaching Greek to local classes and for the University of the Third Age, and in translating the gospels from the original Greek. He also used his botanical expertise to catalogue the flora around his Cambridgeshire village where he acted as churchwarden.
He is survived by his wife, Jean, whom he married in 1958, his children, Will, Caroline, Tom and Francis, and nine grandchildren.
• Patrick Eldon Daunt, teacher and policymaker, born 19 February 1925; died 6 November 2013
European commissionEuropean UnionEuropeDisabilityRomaniaChinaAsia PacificTeachingPeter Mittlertheguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
Greece to restore power to homes cut off over unpaid bills
Greece to restore power to homes cut off over unpaid billsIrish TimesJohn Karampetian, an electrician, adjusts an electricity meter while attempting to reconnect power to a private apartment in a housing block in Thessaloniki, Greece. Photograph: Konstantinos Tsakalidis/Bloomberg. Topics: News · World · Europe; More Topics.Greece to restore electricity to homes cut off, after deathsThe Star OnlineGreek Poor To Get Electricity BackGreek Reporterall 8 news articles »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.irishtimes.com |
Tourism revenues on the rise in recession-hit Greek Cyprus
Hurriyet Daily NewsTourism revenues on the rise in recession-hit Greek CyprusHurriyet Daily NewsTourism spending in Greek Cyprus in the first 10 months of 2013 hit 1.95 billion euros, more than last year's total, boosting hopes the sector will ease the economy out of recession, official data showed Friday. Tourism revenues of 1.95 billion euros ...and more »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.hurriyetdailynews.com |
NBG Scores in Very Rare Greek Bank Credit Rating Upgrade by Moody’s
It seems hard to believe after years of decline, but bad news out of Greece has changed to “less-bad” and then to almost good news. We previously saw that the Greek budget may have a surplus. Now we have ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT finance.yahoo.com |
10 Celebs who Are Basically Greek Gods And Goddesses
10 Celebs who Are Basically Greek Gods And GoddessesCelebuzzThe premiere of The Legend of Hercules on Jan. 10 got us thinking. Hollywood might as well be Mount Olympus. Pretty much every god in the Greek pantheon can be likened to a celebrity. Take Kellan Lutz for example. His pecs alone would qualify him to ...and more »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.celebuzz.com |
Greece: Public sector no longer too large
Greece: Public sector no longer too largeSacramento BeeATHENS, Greece -- Greece's coalition government says the country no longer has too many public servants and is already close to reaching staff reduction targets demanded by bailout lenders two years before the deadline. Administrative Reform Minister ...and more »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sacbee.com |
Greek public sector no longer too large, says government before budget vote
ATHENS, Greece – Greece's coalition government says the country no longer has too many public servants and is already close to reaching staff reduction targets demanded by bailout lenders two years before the deadline. Administrative Reform ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.foxnews.com |
Greece to restore electricity to homes cut off, after deaths
At least three people, including a 13-year-old and an 85-year-old, have been killed in their homes over the past week ... of households that have had their power cut off since the country's recession started six years ago.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.reuters.com |
Worker crushed to death on highway construction project
A construction worker on the Alexandroupoli ring road in northern Greece died on Friday of injuries sustained on the job, the General University Hospital of Evros announced.
The 60-year-old worker was crushed while unloading dirt from the back of a truck.... ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Samaras says Mandela was 'ideologist fighter against violence'
Greeks will always honour his memory of Nelson Mandela, 'a model of humility, selflessness and hu...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.enetenglish.gr |
Dispute over Greece's EU presidency website heats up
Eight years ago, Kostis Lympouridis purchased the eu2014.gr domain so that he could use it to cri...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.enetenglish.gr |
Missing Veria teen found in Thessaloniki
A teenage girl who had gone missing from her hometown of Veria in northern Greece a few days ago was found in Thessaloniki on Friday, police reported.
The Smile of the Child organization had issued an amber alert for 16-year-old Rafaela-Agapi Tipou, who w... ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
ADEDY and GSEE set for Syntagma Square protest on Saturday
Greece’s umbrella unions, the private sector’s GSEE and the public sector’s ADEDY, are organizing a demonstration on Saturday in Syntagma Square, central Athens.
The rally has been called in protest at the government’s draft budget for 2014, which is to b... ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Greek mayors ask to reconnect power to poor homes as another person dies
The mayors of the Athenian suburbs of Palaio Faliro, Peristeri and Vyronas on Friday addressed a joint letter to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras asking that local authorities be allowed to cover the cost of reconnecting impoverished households that have ha... ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Greece to auction 1.250 bln euros of 6-month T-bills on Dec.10- debt agency
Greece will auction 1.250 billion euros ($1.71 billion) of six-month Treasury bills on December 10 to refinance a maturing issue, the country's debt agency PDMA said on Friday.
The settlement date will be December 13. Only primary dealers will be allowed ... ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Young Greek director defies the constraints in first fantasy drama
He may not have had access to the kind of funding that the makers of “The Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” film series did, but that didn’t stop director Thanos Kermitsis from taking the plunge into an expensive genre to produce Greece’s first-ever full... ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Case files of blatant tax dodgers handed to special prosecutor
The Greek Financial Police on Friday turned over to a special prosecutor a collection of case files pertaining to investigations into people and businesses who are suspected of having evaded taxes on a grand scale.
One of the files concerns a farmer from ... ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Greek church in Glenview preps for Holiday Faire
Saints Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church in Glenview invites the public again to its annual Holiday Faire on Saturday. Known for home baked pastries and breads, the church’s Philoptochos ladies group will be selling frozen tiropites and spanakopites, a ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT glenview.suntimes.com |
Greek Center-Left Initiative split ahead of key event
Greek Center-Left Initiative split ahead of key eventKathimeriniOnly a few days ahead of key gathering in Athens, members of Greece's newly-formed Center-Left Initiative appeared divided Friday on whether the movement should turn into a fully-fledged party. The grouping – also dubbed the "58 initiative" after the ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Betting on Greece Brings 107% Return
The Greek Crisis continues to make a few people very rich. Hedge fund manager Dromeus Capital Group’s Greek focused fund – Dromeus Greek Advantage Fund – has delivered investors net returns of 107 percent in its first 12 months. The fund, which was launched when there was still widespread concerns that Greece would be forced […]
The post Betting on Greece Brings 107% Return appeared first on The National Herald.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Greeks Most at Risk of Poverty
Greece’s crushing economic crisis has pushed nearly 25 percent of its population of 11 million into poverty levels, with big pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions cutting disposable income almost in half over the past few years. Data from the country’s Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) showed that some 23.1 percent of Greeks were at […]
The post Greeks Most at Risk of Poverty appeared first on The National Herald.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Kazarian Says Greece Needs New Auditing
Continuing to push his optimism about investing in Greece, U.S. investor Paul Kazarian said that International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) should be applied in Europe to attract people willing to take a chance on bonds there. In an interview with Bloomberg, Kazarian, who heads the Providence, R.I. firm Japonica Partners & Co. that has […]
The post Kazarian Says Greece Needs New Auditing appeared first on The National Herald.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
JCS Chairman Coming to Athens
Renewing interest in Greece as an ally and its geostrategic role in security, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey will be visiting Greece Dec. 7-8. Dempsey is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the Minister of National Defense Dimitris Avramopoulos and the Chief of the Hellenic […]
The post JCS Chairman Coming to Athens appeared first on The National Herald.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Protests Mark Student’s 2008 Killing
ATHENS – Five years to the day that a 15-year-old boy was killed by police, an incident that set off nearly two weeks of disastrous protests, riots and scores of arson fires across the city’s downtown, hundreds of people were dispersed by tear gas during a march to commemorate the incident. Alexis Grigoropoulos was killed […]
The post Protests Mark Student’s 2008 Killing appeared first on The National Herald.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Archdiocesan delegation joins Greek Orthodox celebration of patron saint
The PilotArchdiocesan delegation joins Greek Orthodox celebration of patron saintThe PilotBROOKLINE -- The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston continued a shared ecumenical tradition by hosting representatives from the Archdiocese of Boston, Nov. 29, to celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral Center Chapel in ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thebostonpilot.com |
EU Minister Bağış responds to Greek Cypriot deputy's remarks
Hurriyet Daily NewsEU Minister Bağış responds to Greek Cypriot deputy's remarksHurriyet Daily NewsTurkish EU Minister Egemen Bağış has been quick to respond to remarks from a Greek Cypriot member of the European Parliament (EP) that likened him to “a small salesman,” saying Takis Hadjigeorgiou's words are “null and void.” “The remarks made by the ...Turkish EU minister in spat with Greek Cypriot EP memberwww.worldbulletin.netSub Categories: » HOMEPAGE / TURKEY/ POLITICS Friday,December 6 2013 ...Journal of Turkish Weeklyall 4 news articles »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.hurriyetdailynews.com |
Scuffles with riot police erupt during Athens anniversary of fatal police shooting
ATHENS, Greece - Riot police fired small amounts of tear gas Friday during a march of more than 1,500 high school students to mark the fifth anniversary of a fatal police shooting of a teenager.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.canada.com |
Greek Jewelry Designer Announces New Collection for Holidays
Kalliste NYC, an innovative retailer and wholesaler of Grecian inspired jewelry, invites consumers to view their impressive collection of handmade jewelry. Please visit their Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/KallisteNYC ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT finance.yahoo.com |
Greece "wants to help Serbia's EU integration"
BELGRADE -- When Greece takes over the EU presidency it will invest all its efforts into promoting the accession talks with Serbia and developing the Western Balkans.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.b92.net |
Greek Poor To Get Electricity Back
Greece said it will turn the power back on in households where people can’t afford to pay their electric bills following the carbon monoxide death of a girl whose had turned to using a makeshift stove, and after a fire caused by a candle in ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greek politicians pay tribute to Nelson Mandela [Update]
KathimeriniGreek politicians pay tribute to Nelson Mandela [Update]KathimeriniGreek politicians on Friday paid tribute to anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela who died aged 95 at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection. Greece's conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday hailed Mandela as a ...Nelson Mandela, 95, diesNeos KosmosSouth Africans pay tribute to MandelaWPECall 9,028 news articles »
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Returning Lambda Alliance chair talks greek life collaboration, scholarships
Returning Lambda Alliance chair talks greek life collaboration, scholarshipsThe Daily PennsylvanianAlso I think that as a returning chair, I have the ability to see through projects that I began last year … Certain things like the Faculty Diversity Action Plan and our work with the Greek community would really benefit from me continuing to work on ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thedp.com |
Greece could use veto to force shift in euro policy
MarketWatchGreece could use veto to force shift in euro policyMarketWatchBut his scenario for a new government led by Alexis Tsipras, head of Greece's main opposition party, Syriza, bringing the European Union to a standstill by using its veto in the European Council, is more like a Trojan horse. “Invoking national interest ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.marketwatch.com |
St. Peter's Bones Fake? Questions Raised About Authenticity Of Vatican Relics
ROME (RNS) When Pope Francis cradled the small box said to contain nine bone fragments believed to be the mortal remains of St. Peter, the first pope, he fanned the flames of a long-standing debate over the authenticity of ancient church relics.
Most old churches in Italy contain some ancient relic, ranging from a glass tube said to hold the blood of St. Gennaro in Naples to a section of what is believed to be Jesus’ umbilical cord in the Basilica of St. John of Lateran in Rome. Perhaps the most famous religious relic in Italy — the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be Jesus’ burial cloth — will go on display again in early 2015, and Turin Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia this week invited Pope Francis to attend its public debut.
But St. Peter’s bones are of particular importance, since they are the very basis — both architecturally and spiritually — for Catholicism’s most important church. And yet the bones were only discovered during a series of excavations in the 1940s, almost 1,900 years after Peter died, in either 64 or 67 A.D.
They were reportedly found underneath a fourth-century monument, built by the Emperor Constantine, next to (but not inside of) a small walled area marked, in Greek, reading “Petros eni” — “Peter is here.”
According to the writings of Margherita Guarducci, a scholar on Greek antiquities who died in 1999, one of the workers had been given the bones and stored them in a shoebox. Guarducci reported that to Pope Paul VI, who in 1968 declared that the remains were “identified in a way that we can consider convincing.”
Paul’s statement was the closest thing to a statement of authenticity the bones ever received from the Vatican, though Francis’ Nov. 24 presentation of the bones at a Mass is probably a close second.
The reliquary was returned to its bronze display case beneath St. Peter’s Basilica’s main altar after the Mass, where they can be viewed only on a specially arranged tour.
Outside the Vatican, the jury is still out about their authenticity, with experts weighing in on both sides of the debate.
“It’s very difficult for me to believe the bones are authentic,” said Antonio Lombatti, a church historian. “It’s one thing to say the bones are 2,000 years old and that they have the characteristics we believe to be those of St. Peter. But recall that in the time of St. Peter, Christianity was illegal. Things were hidden and moved around hastily.
“A man of faith, of course, may see things differently, but the truth is that from a factual perspective there is no way to know if something that old is real or not,” Lombatti said.
But Lorenzo Bianchi, a leading archaeologist and expert on church relics, disagreed.
“Every case is different and must be measured by its merits,” he said. “There are many ways to verify and I suppose there is no way to be 100 percent sure, but from circumstances and records we can say some specific things about these bones: that they were buried there some time between 114 and 120 A.D., that Constantine believed them to be authentic, that other records seem to support that. I think we can be as certain as we can reasonably expect to be about this.”
Officially, the Vatican remains mum on the subject of the authenticity of the bones, referring to Paul VI’s 1968 statement. And the faithful on hand for the Nov. 24 Mass — marking the end of the Vatican’s Year of Faith — were mixed in their reaction, with several amazed to be in the presence of such a relic and others expressing doubts.
Peter Manseau, a Maryland author whose 2009 “Rag and Bone” explored the global devotion to holy relics, said it might not matter if the bones were real or not.
“I think that in the end, the authenticity may be beyond the point,” Manseau said. “Their relevance doesn’t really depend on their being what they say they are. They are more important as symbols of faith rather than as some kind of forensic evidence.”
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com |
Greek democracy at a crossroads
adding that the country has remained absolutely true to its democratic values. Political advisor Levteris Kousoulis agrees that democracy is an integral component of Greek society, a fact that he attributes - at least partially - to the country's 1981 ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dw.de |
Greek PM pays tribute to Mandela
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Friday hailed Nelson Mandela as a “symbol of struggles for human dignity, equality and freedom,” saying the former South African president was a model of humility and selflessness.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Eco-community battles Greek crisis
Eco-community battles Greek crisisDeutsche WelleRain falls over a vegetable patch on the small Greek island of Evia where Apostolis Sianos, a tall, tanned 32-year-old man with long dark hair, picks vegetables. He will use these tomatoes, green beans, and eggplants for today's lunch. The gardens here ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dw.de |
Misogyny in the Greek parliament and media: a problem no-one wants to deal with
The lack of respect they show female MPs is an extension of the disregard they show towards the Greek people and its torment in general. And this lack of respect, locks women and people who don’t come from political families, out of the political process.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.opendemocracy.net |
A Greek American’s Greek Identity Crisis in Athens
ATHENS, Greece—"Hello ... "I never learned," I say with my tail between my legs. Disappointment pours over this man's face as freely as wine pours during late-evening dinners here. I'm proud of my heritage. My friends and colleagues know ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nationaljournal.com |
Greek government reacts to Mandela's death
The Greek government on Friday reacted to the death of South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela describing him as a symbol of “the universal struggle against racism and xenophobia.”
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Chairman of JCS Visits Athens
The Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and United States Army General Martin Dempsey will be visiting Greece on December 8-9. The American General will meet with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the Minister of National Defense Dimitris Avramopoulos and the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, General Michalis Kostarakos. They will discuss […]
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Thousands of Children in Greece Unvaccinated
Thousands of children in Greece have been left unvaccinated because their parents have no health insurance and consequently, neither do they. According to Eleftherotypia newspaper, which quotes Nikitas Kanakis of Medecins du Monde in an interview with Sto Kokkino radio, ”Uninsured children who are unvaccinated are in imminent danger. Apart from the threat to their own […]
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Finding The Place of Greek Life at Wesleyan
Finding The Place of Greek Life at WesleyanWesleyan ArgusSuch seems to be the issue facing the Greek system on campus. The administration especially, but also parts of the student body, do not see the Greek college experience as compatible with the Wesleyan experience. This seems hypocritical to the idea of ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT wesleyanargus.com |
Weak World Economy, Not ObamaCare, Is Bending The Cost Curve
Obama’s central planners are latching on to what they think is a rare ObamaCare “win.” Harvard professor and ObamaCare guru, David Cutler (The health-care law’s success story: Slowing down medical costs) proclaims that ObamaCare has “bent the health care cost curve down” as a consequence of measures already in effect, such as “value based reimbursements” and “Accountable Care Organizations.” ObamaCare has thus attained one of its main goals before it even begins. Quite an accomplishment, I must say, if true. Note that Cutler rules out that the downward bending cost curve is a result of the 2008-9 world recession and the spindly recovery thereafter. As he writes: “Even as coverage efforts are sputtering, success on the cost front is becoming more noticeable. Since 2010, the average rate of health-care cost increases has been less than half the average in the prior 40 years. The first wave of the cost slowdown emerged just after the recession and was attributed to the economic hangover. [Wrong. The slowdown began during the recession]. Three years later, the economy is growing, and costs [No. He means the growth rate of costs] show no sign of rising. Something deeper is at work.” Sounds too good to be true. With some minor jiggling, Obama’s central planners have somehow slowed the rise in health care costs for the first time in forty years. Per Cutler: “The Affordable Care Act is a key to the underlying change.” Cutler fails to mention the world-wide phenomenon of slowing healthcare costs caused by the world recession and the weak recovery in its aftermath. The U.S. medical cost slowdown has nothing to do with the ObamaCare tweaks that Cutler praises. Cutler would have us believe that the somnambulant world economy explains the deceleration of medical costs in all countries except the United States, where ObamaCare must be credited. Try selling that one on the streets. The empirical evidence of world-wide attenuating cost increases is overwhelming. Health care costs rose at an average rate of 5 percent per annum between 2000 and 2009 in 32 OECD countries (See OECD official statistics), with U.S. costs rising at the same rate. Since 2009, the average OECD growth rate has fallen to only a half percent with U.S. health care costs growing at 2.2 percent. Cutler uses the U.S. statistic to boast that U.S. health care costs grew at half their historical rate after 2009. But other countries grew at one tenth their historical rate after 2009, and they had no ObamaCare. Maybe our cost curve would have bent down even more without the Affordable Care Act! That argument is just as plausible as Cutler’s. The American Left laments that Obama and his Congressional allies lacked the courage to go directly to the holy grail: A European-style single payer (e.g. socialist) system. Why waste time with complicated private insurance exchanges, they ask? Just put everyone in Medicare or Medicaid and let the federal government pay all the bills! (They do not mention the huge payroll or sales tax increases required, but never mind). With the state paying for everything, the central planners will make sure we have the right health care for all. Do not worry. We’ll take care of everything. Even with ObamaCare, the U.S. remains the only affluent nation in which the state pays less than half of health care costs (OECD Financing of Health Care). In most European countries, the state covers more than three quarters – in effect a single payer system. Europe and the U.S. had roughly equal economic downturns in 2009, followed by weak recoveries thereafter. In 2012 and 2013, the U.S. continued to amble forwards at a snail’s pace, while Europe remained stuck in the mud. Taken as a whole, the U.S. recovery has been better than Europe’s, especially after 2011, but it is nothing to write home about. From 2000 to 2009, health care spending rose at the same rates in Europe and the United States. (I guess greedy European physicians, hospitals, and other providers can also extort higher fees out of a single payer). With the collapse of its public finances starting in 2009, however, Europe’s single payers actually reduced healthcare spending on average (in absolute value, mind you, not its rate of growth), while spending continued to grow, albeit more slowly, in the U.S. with its mixed payer system. Post 2009 Europe illustrates the risks of a socialist medical care system. During economic downturns, the state’s public finances deteriorate, and health care competes for its share of dwindling public resources against other claimants who may have superior political clout. In the health care debate, most recognize that costs of medical care rise as we bring on line new technologies, blockbuster drugs, and new operating procedures. If the state cannot gather resources for more health care spending, the health care delivery system itself is threatened. The extreme collapse of public finances in Greece, Ireland, and Iceland after 2009 resulted in 15 to 30 percent cumulative reductions in health care spending -- cuts large enough to threaten public health and order. In a private system, families decide what to keep and what to cut. In a single-payer system, central planners decide, using one-size-fits-all rules. When it comes to health care, would you like to have Katherine Sibelius or Barack Obama as your last resort? Not I, for one.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.forbes.com |
Greek PM refuses to back down on state TV closure
It is an outbreak of the hypocrisy that has brought Greece to this point and a system that is not willing to give up its privileges." The surprise shutdown of ERT has triggered a public clash within Samaras's fragile three-party coalition, reopening ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nbcnews.com |
Why Greece Will Leave the Euro
And deflation could make it impossible for Greece to deal with its public debt mountain without substantial ... s rescue no matter what happens in that country, markets might want to reflect on a couple of sobering precedents.
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.american.com |
Greek life, sororities lack racial diversity
The Baylor LariatGreek life, sororities lack racial diversityThe Baylor LariatThis occurrence caused shockwaves through Greek circles and many sororities' national offices released statements regarding membership. In a press release issued Sept. 20 on their national website, Kappa Kappa Gamma stated they knew of the incident in ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT baylorlariat.com |
Greek seafood restaurant headed to Englewood
Former restaurateurs George and Irene Mandilaras say they plan to open Taverna Kyclades at 51 E. Palisade Ave. in Englewood early next year. The Fort Lee couple have begun construction in the space formerly occupied by Burgerwood (which moved to Van Brunt ...
|
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT blog.northjersey.com |