SUVs, death, and Bendict (NYT articles)
Jul. 19th, 2003 05:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trilliumgrlSitting here waiting for mum to call and these three articles from the NYT caught my eye.
(1) F ^£*ing SUVs!! After ford promised to reduce the mpg on their SUVs. guess what? It's higher than ever.
David Friedman, a senior policy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said: "They were gambling on a market shift to smaller S.U.V.'s instead of putting technology to work to make their mainstream products do better. Instead, their mainstream products did worse." .... booming sales of S.U.V.'s depressed the fuel economy of the average new vehicle sold in the United States to a 22-year low in the 2002 model year, the most recent year for which complete figures are available.
(2)Dying in NY Interesting article about the difficulties hospitals and doctors face when dealing with severely ill elderly patients, who have not left express wishes on what type of treatment they want. The New York laws are particularly tough, and many of these patients don't have families to make a decision. When does it stop being health care and start being torture? One doctor in the article says: "This is not illegal, but it's abuse. It's legal abuse of patients." But, trying to get nursing home residents to make out a care plan, beyond a DNR, proved very difficult. Yet another lovely example of how we die (or don't) in America.
(3) Ruth Benedict!!! Oddly enough from the Arts section, an article about the work that Ruth Benedict did for the American Office of War Information during WWII, most famously resulting in her book on the Japanese The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. The main thrust of the article is how important Benedict's work was for post-war reconstruction in Japan. It concluded by asking:
As the occupation of Iraq appears more complex by the day, where are the new Ruth Benedicts, authoritative voices who will carry weight with both Iraqis and Americans?
It's a good question , but one thing the article didn't mention was the debate that Benedict's work still causes among anthropologists, about what our duty is, and the morality of working for the government, especially in times of war. Another interesting mention too, of how popular Beendict's book is in Japan to this day.
Okay, all done now, almost time for mum to call. Enjoy the fruits of my boredom.
(1) F ^£*ing SUVs!! After ford promised to reduce the mpg on their SUVs. guess what? It's higher than ever.
(2)Dying in NY Interesting article about the difficulties hospitals and doctors face when dealing with severely ill elderly patients, who have not left express wishes on what type of treatment they want. The New York laws are particularly tough, and many of these patients don't have families to make a decision. When does it stop being health care and start being torture? One doctor in the article says: "This is not illegal, but it's abuse. It's legal abuse of patients." But, trying to get nursing home residents to make out a care plan, beyond a DNR, proved very difficult. Yet another lovely example of how we die (or don't) in America.
(3) Ruth Benedict!!! Oddly enough from the Arts section, an article about the work that Ruth Benedict did for the American Office of War Information during WWII, most famously resulting in her book on the Japanese The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. The main thrust of the article is how important Benedict's work was for post-war reconstruction in Japan. It concluded by asking:
It's a good question , but one thing the article didn't mention was the debate that Benedict's work still causes among anthropologists, about what our duty is, and the morality of working for the government, especially in times of war. Another interesting mention too, of how popular Beendict's book is in Japan to this day.
Okay, all done now, almost time for mum to call. Enjoy the fruits of my boredom.
