The Common Good and Individual Self Interest have oftentimes been portrayed by modern-day academics, politicians, and media experts as being on opposite ends of the political and economic spectrum. History dating back to the ancient Greek Philosophers and up to the Fathers of the Enlightenment and through the Industrial Revolution and attempts to redefine the […]
I was told this by a patient who was also one of my closest physician friends. I announced my retirement date 6 months in advance and did not schedule any big surgery cases 3months out from my retirement date. Over the years—41 years of practicing medicine and surgery, a surgeon develops relationships with not only […]
Ever since our Idaho’s Governor’s 2nd “stay in place” order I have talked to many conservatives who cannot begin to fathom not only the bases of the 2nd order, but the willingness of so many people to turn over basic life decisions of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ to agencies of a broken […]
One of the joys of the COVID-19 slowdown for me has been that it has offered me an opportunity to do more reading and rereading of books that I read many years ago. One such book was “The Media is the Message” by Marshall Mcluhan. After reading the book for a second time the new […]
My heart goes out to the thousands of Idahoans who own small businesses, or who are employed by small businessmen. These groups contribute 50% to Idaho’s $70 billion GDP; what an incredible hit they are taking. More than a few will go bankrupt, and for others, it will take a long time to reestablish a […]
I was surprised when our Governor decided to extend his Statewide “stay in place policy”, but I was even more surprised to read Betsy Russell’s “Eye on Boise” article about various state and local officials two that I know who own their own businesses, who supported the Governor’s decision. I will attempt to get my […]
“Bad decisions yield bad results” I disagree today with the Governors extension. I agreed with him on round 1. Type 2 mitigation strategy—”stay in place” and selective quarantine is appropriate for lag and exponential phases of pandemics. Type 3 mitigation—isolating at-risk populations is appropriate for plateau and log phases of the pandemic. People, families, and […]
As we approach the “peak of the curve” in Idaho and as our Governor will be coming down with his decision about extending “stay in place” policies for the whole State of Idaho early next week I believe a few observations are in order. First of all, I believe the Governor’s instincts have served the […]
So writes Katherine Stewart in an editorial in today’s New York Times “The Road To Coronavirus Hell Was Paved By Evangelicals”. So writes Katherine Stewart in an editorial in today’s New York Times. At best, Ms. Stewart is only flaunting her ignorance of the Western World’s march to modernity. At the worst, she is a […]
Is Idaho’s Legislature Truly Conservative? What the heck happened during the last weeks of the Idaho legislature? Republicans hold 80% of the seats in both houses and most fancy themselves to be conservative. I am one who watches the daily debates on the floor of both the House and the Senate. I very much appreciate […]
Over the past 20 years, much of the defense of liberty has centered on its empiric success, rather than on the morality of economic and political systems whose very foundations rest on concepts of liberty. The people who we traditionally have looked to when discussing issues of political philosophy and morality have withdrawn from the […]
I don’t agree with the experts so much on this. My bottom line is that the Public Health Community deals with demographics and statistics and not individual patients. Classically there are three public health strategies to take care of a pandemic: 1. Let it run its course like Italy. Lots of deaths early on, the entire […]