The EDSA Revolution, also referred to as the People Power Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986, was a mostly non-violent mass demonstration in the Philippines. Four days of peaceful action by millions of Filipinos led to the downfall of the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and the installation of Corazon Aquino as president of the Republic. EDSA stands for Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the main highway in Metro Manila and the main site of the demonstrations.

In the last year or so I've posted more than a few articles protesting various aspects of the Cheney/Bush administration and their ill conceived, illegal and insane policies and on several occasions I've led the pieces with pictures that cast Cheney and Bush in Nazi uniforms. I have no facility with Photoshop so I "borrowed" the images from here and there around the web. My apologies to those unheralded graphic geniuses whose work I "borrowed."

The pieces were generally well received around the liberal blogosphere but locally, here in Dayton, Ohio I took no small amount of heat for comparing Cheney/Bush and his criminal minions with Hitler and his henchmen. I received some very unflattering comments, some hate mail, more than a few invitations to an ass kicking, mine was intended I believe, and one grammatically challenged death threat.

Doctors look high and low and very wide for the answer to the mystery of the dying, suffering Americans. We suggest that that the solution is very, very close.

A study paper in the current Journal of the American Medical Association concludes very little. The major finding is that Americans pay twice as much a year for medical care than Brits do. Yet we get shorter, sicker lives.

You can read the abstract of Disease and Disadvantage in the United States and in England (you need a sub or to wait six months for the whole thing). Popular coverage is ubiquitous, including this overview in the International Herald Tribune.

Have you ever gotten a piece of mail addressed to "occupant" or "resident," that included an "important offer" or "time sensitive information" and contained the greeting "Dear Valued Customer?" Yes, I know, me too. Every time I open the mail I'm assaulted by some cheap "special offering" or "exciting opportunity" from some boiler room asshole who thinks that I'm so stupid that I don't see through his sleazy crap.

I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but if you want to stay on my good side try not to let me know that you're aware of that fact. If you want to do business with me please don't insult the limited intelligence I have left over from the 60's, and in the future address your communications to me like this: