Normalizing Assad Won't Solve the Syrian Refugee Crisis
As much as Syrian refugees would like to return home eventually and as much as neighboring countries would welcome an end to the challenges of hosting large refugee communities, now is not the right time for mass Syrian refugee repatriation. Regional governments could instead focus on supporting refugees where they are, especially by allowing them to be legal, productive members of local economies. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - August 23, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Nadia Almasalkhi Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Neighborhood dispute
Ezra 4 is chronologically muddled, evidence that the text accreted over time. Of course, we don ' t know how much of this actually happened. On the one hand, it ' s hard to see why these stories are here if there isn ' t some basis for them, on the other hand some of this doesn ' t seem very plausible. I ' ll try to sort out some of the complications. In verses 1 and 2 Zerubabbel is not identified but he is the leader of the community, identified elsewhere in the Tanakh as being of the Davidic line and as the governor of Judah. The reference to Esahaddon king of Syria is to the story in 2 Kings 17, in which the Assyri...
Source: Stayin' Alive - April 30, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Government Proposes To Make Bad Standards on Race and Ethnicity Worse
John F. EarlyI recently laid out the case to stop government classification of people by race and ethnicity in a CatoBlog post. Those observations were stimulated by The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posting a notice for comment in the Federal Register with respect to a report from the Federal Interagency Technical Working Group and Race and Ethnicity Standards to revise the existing standards for collecting data by race and ethnicity. Comments are due by April 27, 2023.Ipublished a similar op ‐ed in the Wall Street Journal, which subsequently printed a singleletter to the editor in re...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 18, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: John F. Early Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Worst apostasy ever
The story of Ahaz is told in 2 Kings 16. Although the facts largely overlap, it ' s a completely different version of the story. It ' s basically the same old idea -- Ahaz forsakes Yahweh, worships Baal, and Judah gets trashed. Somewhat unusually, one of the instruments of the trashing is the northern kingdom. However, a prophet persuades the " people of Israel, " oddly without mentioning their king or leadership, to release the Judean captives, essentially on the grounds that they have no right to enslave fellow Israelites.Ahaz goes on to humiliate Judah before the Syrian king Tiglath-Pileser, by bribing him with some of ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - March 19, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Earthquake in Turkey and Syria, Facial Recognition, Gun Violence: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, regulating the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement, improving data collection on gun violence, and more. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - February 17, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: RAND Corporation Source Type: blogs
Earthquake in Turkey, Syria: Insights from RAND Researchers
More than 36,000 people have been confirmed dead in one the strongest earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria in the past century. As search-and-rescue missions continue and recovery begins, a handful of RAND researchers share some of their initial thoughts. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - February 14, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Shelly Culbertson; Aaron Clark-Ginsberg; Howard J. Shatz; James A. Schear; Krishna B. Kumar; Mahshid Abir; Jay Balagna; Jessie Riposo Source Type: blogs
Earthquake
The news, and the scenes, from Turkey and Syria are horrific. There ' s nothing more to be said about that except that the response of the world community is heartening. It does remind us that the planet is knit together as it has never been before.But it ' s necessary, and I don ' t think it ' s crass, to talk about the complexities from a public health perspective. If you ' ve seen video of those multi-story apartment buildings collapsing like houses of cards, you ' ll know why the death toll is so high. This was a very powerful earthquake, but if it happened in, say, Los Angeles, which is far more densely populated and ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 7, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: More from the Xerox machine
Ch. 16 is pretty much copied from the Book of Kings. It ' s a bit puzzling theologically. It continues the ongoing theme of war between Israel and Judah. Asa deals with an Israeli offensive effectively with diplomacy. He recruits the Syrian king into an alliance and soundly defeats the Baasha the king of Israel. But then a prophet comes along and says he shouldn ' t have done that, instead of recruiting an ally he should have " relied on the Lord, " then he could have conquered Syria as well. Asa doesn ' t like this and throws the guy in jail. Then Asa gets an unspecified foot disease, and he relies on physicia...
Source: Stayin' Alive - February 5, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
What Biden Has Gotten Right on Immigration
David J. BierPresident Biden ’s handling of immigration is the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism from all sides. Much of this criticism is right, but the president has also implemented many positive policies. While it often acted too slowly and has much more to do, the new administration has already reversed the most important restrictionist policies imposed by the Trump administration.Major Big Picture ActionsEnding the “security” travel bansOn January 20, 2021, President Bidenfully rescinded President Trump ’s ban on immigration and certain travel for nationals of Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Syria,...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 29, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: David J. Bier Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Deja vu of deja vu
I didn ' t want to steal Yogi ' s line. Chapter 19 is once again a near copy of a chapter from 2 Samuel, in this case Chapter 10, but with some details altered. For example, in Samuel the Ammonites hired 30,000 Syrian soldiers, whereas here they hire 32,000 chariots. I cannot explain the discrepancies, or for that matter why the Chronicler feels the need to reproduce these stories in the first place. Of course, the numbers involved in these battles, and the numbers David ' s army kills, are preposterous. As I ' ve said before, if David existed he was chieftan of a few small towns, not a kingdom that could muster tens of th...
Source: Stayin' Alive - November 6, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
October 20, 2022 Edition-----In the US we have just had the usual mass-shootings last week! Hard to know why the population put up with it. On a larger scale the war is seemingly just getting worse and more lethal. While there is assassination there must be hope!In the UK all eyes are on just when the Truss implosion will actually happen.In OZ the biggest news has been the really Biblical floods in SE Australia, The Budget is also getting close!-----Major Issues.-----https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/average-tax-rate-to-hit-record-high-this-decade-with-or-without-stage-three-cuts-20221008-p5bo78Average tax rate to h...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - October 20, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
September 22, 2022 Edition-----We will see the closure on the Mourning Period for QE!! In Australia tomorrow, We can then move on to the next big issue, which will surely be the progress in the Russo-Ukrainian war and the associated issues with China and Russia.The US seems – with the rest of the world – to be moving into recession.King Charles has now been to all his UK Realms and will now quietly let PM Trass get back to running the UK. God help her …In Australia we have to now get on with life and the economic disaster we seem to be facing.-----Major Issues.-----https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/oddly-enough-th...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - September 22, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
What they don't bother to tell you
Complaining about the corporate media is like talking about the weather. It doesn ' t ever seem to do any good. But at least my 4/12 readers deserve to know something very important about the Biden administration, which for some reason is a big secret. It also has to do with a big secret about the previous administration.This site keeps track of air strikes in Iraq and Syria by the U.S. led coalition.Bet you didn ' t know this. These are civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria by presidential term. Note that the chart includes allegations that the investigators don ' t consider confirmed, but they ' re very up-front about ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - August 16, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
The Macro View – Health, Economics, and Politics and the Big Picture. What I Am Watching Here And Abroad.
August 11, 2022 Edition-----It is hard to go past just how bad the level strategic stability in the world seems to have gone backwards with the war hardly stopping, Nancy Pelosi poking Chinese bears. The UK imploding economically and Europe on the brink of collapse.I have never seen it this bas and many senior commentators agree. Really very worrying!-----Major Issues.-----https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/newspoll-record-electoral-satisfaction-rating-for-anthony-albanese/news-story/6ad1f681586961423e3eb75a05b99949Newspoll: Record electoral satisfaction rating for Anthony AlbaneseSimon BensonJuly 31, 2022Anthony Alba...
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - August 11, 2022 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
Sunday Sermonette: Are things getting real?
Chapter 16 tells the story of King Ahaz of Judah. There is archaeological and historical evidence for his existence. We are getting close enough to the time the Book of Kings was written that the content likely reflects actual historical memory, not just myth. However, that doesn ' t mean the details are reliable! For example, verse 2 says he was 36 years old when he died; but in Ch. 18, we are told that his son Hezekiah succeeded him at age 25, which means Ahaz must have fathered Hezekiah when he was 11 years old. Verse 3, in this translation, says Ahaz sacrificed his son to a Canaanite God, but as the footnote admit...
Source: Stayin' Alive - July 24, 2022 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
