Discussing Freedom: August 2009

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Out of the mouth of Babes Barack

At a town hall meeting, when asked how private insurance companies would be able to compete with the public option the President responded

"private insurers should be able to compete with the government plan. They do it all the time, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It's the Post Office that's always having problems."

I don't think he parsed his response very well as it is a proving argument of the folly of government managed health care. UPS and FedEX make a profit. The Postal Service is continually running a deficit and is facing severe lay off and the shutting down of 100s of post offices.

He, the President, makes a scathing argument against government management of anything.

The Cuckoo Bird

From Wikipedia:

Brood parasitism

About 56 of the Old World species and 3 of the New World species are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds.[12] These species are obligate brood parasites, meaning that they only reproduce in this fashion. This behavior has led to the entry of the term cuckold into the English language, which describes a man with an unfaithful wife. In addition to the above noted species, yet others sometimes engage in non-obligate brood parasitism, laying their eggs in the nests of members of their own species in addition to raising their own young. The best-known example is the European Common Cuckoo. The shells of the eggs of brood-parasites is usually thick.[14] They have two distinct layers with an outer chalky layer that is believed to provide resistance to cracking when the eggs is dropped in the host nest.[15] The cuckoo egg hatches earlier than the host's, and the cuckoo chick grows faster; in most cases the chick evicts the eggs or young of the host species. The chick has no time to learn this behavior, so it must be an instinct passed on genetically. The chick encourages the host to keep pace with its high growth rate with its rapid begging call [16] and the chick's open mouth which serves as a sign stimulus [17].

Female parasitic cuckoos specialize and lay eggs that closely resemble the eggs of their chosen host. This has been produced by natural selection, as some birds are able to distinguish cuckoo eggs from their own, leading to those eggs least like the host's being thrown out of the nest.[17] Host species may engage in more direct action to prevent cuckoos laying eggs in their nest in the first place - birds whose nests are at high risk of cuckoo-contamination are known to mob cuckoos to drive them out of the area.[18] Parasitic cuckoos are grouped into gentes, with each gens specializing in a particular host. There is some evidence that the gentes are genetically different from one another. Host specificity is enhanced by the need to imitate the eggs of the host.

Discussing Freedom

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Out of the mouth of Babes Barack

The Cuckoo Bird

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