Monday Miscellany

  • Japan started a huge cohort study to look at health problems in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster -- they'll follow children in the area for decades, watching for thyroid problems in particular.
  • Community health centers lose funding and no one notices. One of my friends works for this program and I didn't even know this.
  • Just how messed up are our political and lobbying processes? Morgenson and Rosner's Reckless Endangerment is a great read on Fannie Mae's role in the housing bubble, but this NY Review of Books critique is a necessary corrective to the somewhat myopic point of view taken by Morgenson and Rosner, who portray Fannie as the primum movens of the crisis.
  • Planned Parenthood in Texas struggles after state budget cuts. Battles over health care (of which PP is a major -- or the only --provider to many women and low-income families) and abortion rights are increasingly being fought in the states.
  • Rush Limbaugh reacted to Obama's decision to send 100 US (armed) military advisers to Uganda to help hunt Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army by saying "Obama Invades Uganda, Targets Christians." Best Twitter reaction came from @jonathanshainin: "I remember when Rush Limbaugh was one of our top central Africa experts. Looks like he may be slipping a bit."
  • Did you know top MBA programs don't disclose grades? Bizarre. Grades definitely aren't the most important part of school, but still...