http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/health+care/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3509/digging_in_the_right_place/ There's a memorable moment in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana Jones sees a rival's archaeological excavation and realizes the buried treasure is somewhere else. "They're digging in the wrong place!" he exclaims. The line could explain why our national elections leave us feeling empty. By expecting so much so fast from Washington D.C., we are digging for "change" in the wrong place. Think about it: The White House can only be won by raising truckloads of cash from moneyed interests looking to preserve the status quo. Likewise, the U.S. Senate's filibuster rules allow 41 lawmakers, representing just 11 percent of the population, to stop anything. These are institutions designed to prevent change, not embrace it. Thankfully, the same… elections health care Susan J. Douglas Wed, 21 May 2008 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3688/piling_it_high/ Nancy Holt, a retired nurse from Mebane, N.C., is beset by mysterious neurological problems. She blames the cause of her illness on the multiple unknown toxicities of the sewage sludge that has been spread since 1991 on the fields across from her house as "fertilizer." And Holt says she isn't alone. People in her neighborhood have a high incidence of cancer and thyroid problems. Local creeks are no longer safe for kids to play in -- the danger of staph infection is too great. In 2001, Holt began chronicling the health problems in her area of rural Alamance County -- 12 miles north of Chapel Hill. Soon she was tracking reports of sludge-related illnesses and deaths across the country. "I… pollution health care sewage Susan J. Douglas Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3908/united_we_fail/ This election year, the bandwagon to fix the healthcare system barrels along. On board is a motley crew of self-styled reformers, the agents of change. But not all change is created equal. And nowhere is this truer than with healthcare reform. We've been here before, in 1994, when the Clintons' attempts to cure a sick healthcare system came a cropper. In an interview with The Harvard University Gazette, Theda Skocpol -- author of Boomerang, a 1996 book that analyzed why those reform efforts were unsuccessful -- said, "As usual, everyone failed to anticipate the conservative ideological crusade against health reforms -- yet such crusades have happened every time the issue has come up in U.S. politics." Let's look at some… health care elections reform Susan J. Douglas