Brian and I have been discussing health care over at “Take Their Power Away“, and so we got to talking about some foreign health care systems, and we hit a point that’s kind of interesting. I was wondering if those people from outside the US (particularly those Germans who seem to like this blog so much) would mind chiming in.

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Okay, new rule: if you’re only going to have one implementation, don’t have a friggin’ interface. I’m sick of having to hunt down your “FooBeanImpl” class (which, of course, I need to get from the singleton “FooBeanImplProviderFactory”) whenever I just want to work with a “Foo”.

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Some of you who know me in person may remember my friend Corlin. His father, the Rev. Richard Stelter, passed away on Christmas Eve. I knew Corlin well, and feel for him: I knew his father only through the terrific work he did on the Committee on Preparation for Ministry, which I had the pleasure of serving on with him. He was always an insightful voice, who brought both deep compassion and high expectation to the table. Even knowing him just that little bit, I feel his loss deeply: I can’t imagine what things are like for Corlin and his family right now.

There’s a memorial service on Saturday, January 5, 2008 at North Como Presbyterian Church in Roseville for those who would like to attend.

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If you need lawn/snow plow service in the Stillwater, MN area (including Woodbury, Oakdale, and Hudson), give my cousin Paul a call at 651-808-3333. He just bought a part of a lawn service from his now-ex-boss, who has more work than he knows what to do with and is downsizing to prep for retirement, which is really cool. And Paul’s a good guy with a strong work ethic who will treat you right.

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It’s a bit late in the game, but I’ve finally made my choice- John Edwards is my candidate.

The straw that broke the camel’s back and made my decision was his response to Nataline Sarkysian tragedy. Nataline Sarkysian was the California teen who died after Cigna denied a necessary liver transplant- an all too common story in our “world class” health care system. Edwards’ response was:

“Are you telling me that we’re gonna sit at a table and negotiate with those people?” asked a visibly angered Edwards, challenging the health care companies. “We’re gonna take their power away and we’re not gonna have this kind of problem again.”

Damned straight.

However unresponsive and unrepresentative you might feel the federal government is, corporate government is even worse. Do you imagine we could, for example, replace the CEO of Cigna? Or United Health, or Microsoft, if we didn’t like how they were run? We can with Government (and if changing out the President doesn’t change anything, what good is supporting or even electing Ron Paul?).

What we need is for politicians to stop toadying up to the corporate powers, and start confronting them. Edwards is that politician.

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