1. Rwanda, one of the poorest of the third world countries, provides national health insurance that covers 92% of its people. True, it is limited and has no frills. But it covers maternity and most major illnesses.
2. Sweden's government pays for men to take paternity leave from their jobs, and according to a New York Times article, it is changing the definition of "manly" in that country. It is not mandatory, but about 80% take it. Reportedly divorce rates have declined, and there are more shared custody cases when they do divorce. Portugal has a mandatory paternity leave, but only for one week. Iceland has just passed a law giving three months financial support to new fathers who take leave.
3. And, by the way, Iceland has just legalized gay marriage -- by a unanimous vote of their Parliament. Other countries: Netherlands (2000), Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2009), and Sweden (2009). Israel, France, and Japan recognize marriages performed in other countries. In the U.S., Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
4. Finally, some sanity among the Supremes. In a 7 to 2 decision, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that a man on death row, whose court appointed attorney missed the deadline for filing an appeal, must be granted an appeal hearing anyway. Scalia and Thomas voted no. Apparently, to them, the law is the law and deadlines are deadlines. If you have the misfortune to have an incompetent lawyer supplied for you by the system, that's just the tough breaks of life and -- in this case -- death.
Ralph
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Someone should point out to Scalia and Thomas that this is what Obama meant when he introduced the word "empathy" into the qualifications he would like to see in a nominee. Unfortunately, a good word got distorted out of its true meaning: "the ability to put yourself in another person's position and have an emotional understanding of being there."
ReplyDeleteThey don't have it and they don't get it. I think Scalia is a true ideologue and just can't see it any other way. I think Thomas is a sad example of being locked into a mindset of "I did it the hard way without any help, so nobody else should have any help either."
Thomas also seems obsessed with proving that he did it on his own. Any suggestion that he benefited from affirmative action in getting into Yale Law School makes him see red. As he said once, words to the effect: it negates his accomplishment to suggest that he wouldn't have been accepted if he were white. And that, among other reasons, is why he opposes affirmative action.
ReplyDeleteOops. Correction to #3 above. Maine's legislature did pass a bill leglizing gay marriage, and the governor signed it into law. But opponents got an injunction to prevent it going into effect, and then they had a referendum in November 2009, where the bill was overturned.
ReplyDeleteSo Maine continues to have domestic partner rights but not gay marriage.