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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years

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#1yrago My RSS feeds from a decade ago, a snapshot of gadget blogging when that was a thing

Rob Beschizza:

I chanced upon an ancient backup of my RSS feed subscriptions, a cold hard stone of data from my time at Wired in the mid-2000s. The last-modified date on the file is December 2007. I wiped my feeds upon coming to Boing Boing thenabouts: a fresh start and a new perspective.

What I found, over 212 mostly-defunct sites, is a time capsule of web culture from a bygone age—albeit one tailored to the professional purpose of cranking out blog posts about consumer electronics a decade ago. It's not a picture of a wonderful time before all the horrors of Facebook and Twitter set in. This place is not a place of honor. No highly-esteemed deed is commemorated here. But perhaps some of you might like a quick tour, all the same.

The "Main" folder, which contains 30 feeds, was the stuff I actually wanted (or needed) to read. This set would morph over time. I reckon it's easy to spot 2007's passing obsessions from the enduring interests.

↬ Arts and Letters Daily: a minimalist blog of links about smartypants subjects, a Drudge for those days when I sensed a third digit dimly glowing in my IQ. But for the death of founder Denis Dutton, it's exactly the same as it was in 2007! New items daily, but the RSS feed's dead.

↬ Boing Boing. Still around, I hear.

↬ Brass Goggles. A dead feed for a defunct steampunk blog (the last post was in 2013) though the forums seem well-stocked with new postings.

↬ The Consumerist. Dead feed, dead site. Founded in 2005 by Joel Johnson at Gawker, it was sold to Consumer Reports a few years later, lost its edge there, and was finally shuttered (or summarily executed) just a few weeks ago.

↬ Bibliodyssey. Quiescent. Updated until 2015 with wonderful public-domain book art scans and commentary. A twitter account and tumblr rolled on until just last year. There is a book to remember it by should the bits rot.

↬ jwz. Jamie Zawinski's startling and often hilariously bleak reflections on culture, the internet and working at Netscape during the dotcom boom. This was probably the first blog that led me to visit twice, to see if there was more. And there still is, almost daily.

↬ Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society. Curios and weirdness emerging from the dust and foul fog of old books, forbidden history and the more speculative reaches of science. So dead the domain is squatted. Creator Josh Foer moved on to Atlas Obscura.

↬ The Tweney Review. Personal blog of my last supervisor at Wired, Dylan Tweney, now a communications executive. It's still going strong!

↬ Strange Maps. Dead feed, dead site, though it's still going as a category at Big Think. Similar projects proliferate now on social media; this was the wonderful original. There was a book.

↬ BLDGBLOG. Architecture blog, posting since 2004 with recent if rarer updates. A fine example of tasteful web brutalism, but I'm no longer a big fan of cement boxes and minimalism with a price tag.

↬ Dethroner. A men's self-care and fashion blog, founded by Joel Johnson, of the tweedy kind that became wildly and effortlessly successful not long after he gave up on it.

↬ MocoLoco. This long-running design blog morphed visually into a magazine in 2015. I have no idea why I liked it then, but indie photoblogs' golden age ended long ago and it's good to see some are thriving.

↬ SciFi Scanner. Long-dead AMC channel blog, very likely the work of one or two editors and likely lost to tidal corporate forces rather than any specific failure or event.

↬ Cult of Mac. Apple news site from another Wired News colleague of mine, Leander Kahney, and surely one of the longest-running at this point. Charlie Sorrel, who I hired at Wired to help me write the Gadget blog, still pens articles there.

↬ Ectoplasmosis. After Wired canned its bizarre, brilliant and unacceptably weird Table of Malcontents blog, its editor John Brownlee (who later joined Joel and I in editing Boing Boing Gadgets) and contributor Eliza Gauger founded Ectoplasmosis: the same thing but with no hysterical calls from Conde Nast wondering what the fuck is going on. It was glorious, too: a high-point of baroque indie blogging in the age before Facebook (and I made the original site design). Both editors later moved onto other projects (Magenta, Problem Glyphs); Gauger maintains the site's archives at tumblr. It was last updated in 2014.

↬ Penny Arcade. Then a webcomic; now a webcomic and a media and events empire.

↬ Paul Boutin. While working at Wired News, I'd heard a rumor that he was my supervisor. But I never spoke to him and only ever received a couple of odd emails, so I just got on with the job until Tweney was hired. His site and its feed are long-dead.

↬ Yanko Design. Classic blockquote chum for gadget bloggers.

↬ City Home News. A offbeat Pittburgh News blog, still online but lying fallow since 2009.

↬ Watchismo. Once a key site for wristwatch fans, Watchismo was folded into watches.com a few years ago. A couple of things were posted to the feed in 2017, but its time has obviously passed.

↬ Gizmodo. Much has changed, but it's still one of the best tech blogs.

↬ Engadget. Much has changed, but it's still one of the best tech blogs.

↬ Boing Boing Gadgets. Site's dead, though the feed is technically live as it redirects to our "gadgets" tag. Thousands of URLs there succumbed to bit-rot at some point, but we have plans to merge its database into Boing Boing's and revive them.

↬ Gear Factor. This was the gadget review column at Wired Magazine, separate from the gadget blog I edited because of the longtime corporate divorce between Wired's print and online divisions. This separation had just been resolved at the time I began working there, and the two "sides" -- literally facing offices in the same building -- were slowly being integrated. The feed's dead, but with an obvious successor, Gear.

↬ The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. Required reading at the time, and very much a thing of its time. Now vaguely repulsive.

↬ i09. This brilliant sci-fi and culture blog deserved more than to end up a tag at Gizmodo.

↬ Science Daily: bland but exhaustive torrent of research news, still cranking along.

The "Essentials" Folder was material I wanted to stay on top of, but with work clearly in mind: the background material for systematically belching out content at a particular point in 2007.

↬ Still alive are The Register, Slashdot, Ars Technica, UMPC Portal (the tiny laptop beat!), PC Watch, Techblog, TechCrunch, UberGizmo, Coolest Gadgets, EFF Breaking News, Retro Thing, CNET Reviews, New Scientist, CNET Crave, and MAKE Magazine.

↬ Dead or quiescent: GigaOm (at least for news), Digg/Apple, Akihabara News, Tokyomango, Inside Comcast, Linux Devices (Update: reincarnated at linuxgizmos.com), and Uneasy Silence.

Of the 23 feeds in the "press releases" folder, 17 are dead. Most of the RSS no-shows are for companies like AMD and Intel, however, who surely still offer feeds at new addresses. Feeds for Palm, Nokia and pre-Dell Alienware are genuine dodos. These were interesting enough companies, 10 years ago.

PR Newswire functions as a veneering service so anyone can pretend to have a big PR department, but it is (was?) also legitimately used by the big players as a platform so I monitored the feeds there. They're still populated, but duplicate one another, and it's all complete garbage now. (It was mostly garbage then.)

My "Gadgets and Tech" folder contained the army of late-2000s blogs capitalizing on the success of Gizmodo, Boing Boing, TechCrunch, et al. Back in the day, these were mostly one (or two) young white men furiously extruding commentary on (or snarky rewrites of) press releases, with lots of duplication and an inchoate but seriously-honored unspoken language of mutual respect and first-mover credit. Those sites that survived oftentimes moved to listicles and such: notionally superior and more original content and certainly more sharable on Facebook, but unreadably boring. However, a few old-timey gadget bloggers are still cranking 'em out' in web 1.5 style. And a few were so specialized they actually had readers who loved them.

Still alive: DailyTech, technabob, CdrInfo.com, EverythingUSB, Extremetech, GearFuse, Gizmag, Gizmodiva, Hacked Gadgets, How to Spot A Psychopath/Dans' Data, MobileBurn, NewLaunches, OhGizmo!, ShinyShiny, Stuff.tv, TechDigest, TechDirt, Boy Genius Report, The Red Ferret Journal, Trusted Reviews, Xataca, DigiTimes, MedGadget, Geekologie, Tom's Hardware, Trendhunter, Japan Today, Digital Trends, All About Symbian (Yes, Symbian!), textually, cellular-news, TreeHugger, dezeen.

Dead: jkkmobile.com, Business Week Online, About PC (why), Afrigadget (unique blog about inventors in Africa, still active on FaceBook), DefenseTech, FosFor (died 2013), Gearlog, Mobile-Review.com (but apparently reborn as a Russian language tech blog!), Robot's Dreams, The Gadgets Weblog, Wireless Watch Japan, Accelerating Future, Techopolis, Mobile Magazine, eHome Upgrade, camcorderinfo.com (Update: it became http://Reviewed.com), Digital Home Thoughts (farewell), WiFi Network News (farewell), Salon: Machinist, Near Future Lab, BotJunkie (twitter), and CNN Gizmos.

I followed 18 categories at Free Patents Online, and the site's still alive, though the RSS feeds haven't had any new items since 2016.

In the "news" folder, my picks were fairly standard stuff: BBC, CNET, digg/technology, PC World, Reuters, International Herald Tribune, and a bunch of Yahoo News feeds. The Digg feed's dead; they died and were reborn.

The "Wired" feed folder comprised all the Wired News blogs of the mid-2000s. All are dead. 27B Stroke 6, Autopia, Danger Room, Epicenter, Gadget Lab, Game|Life, Geekdad, Listening Post, Monkey Bites, Table of Malcontents, Underwire, Wired Science.

These were each basically one writer or two and were generally folded into the established mazagine-side arrangements as the Age of Everyone Emulating Gawker came to an end. The feed for former EIC Chris Anderson's personal blog survives, but hasn't been updated since his era. Still going strong is Bruce Sterling's Beyond the Beyond, albeit rigged as a CMS tag rather than a bona fide site of its own.

Still alive from my 2007 "Science" folder are Bad Astronomy (Phil Plait), Bad Science (Ben Goldacre), Pharyngula (PZ Myers) New Urban Legends, NASA Breaking News, and The Panda's Thumb.

Finally, there's a dedicated "iPhone" folder. This was not just the hottest toy of 2007. It was all that was holy in consumer electronics for half a decade. Gadget blogging never really had a golden age, but the iPhone ended any pretense that there were numerous horses in a race of equal potential. Apple won.

Still alive are 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, MacSlash, AppleInsider and Daring Fireball. Dead are TUAW, iPhoneCentral, and the iPhone Dev Wiki.

Of all the sites listed here, I couldn't now be paid but to read a few. So long, 2007.

https://boingboing.net/2017/12/29/my-rss-feeds-from-a-decade-ago.html

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 5 years

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One of the first articles that mentioned Moon’s pikareum sex rituals

A.D. magazine May 1974 by Jane Day Mook (pages 30-36)

New Growth on Burnt-Over Ground

Third in an A.D. series offering a critical look at new religions in America.

Hope and fear are almost always entwined in the impulses that cause a man or woman to seek a faith. Therefore it is not strange that religions contain promises both of divine intervention or mercy, and of judgment. Thus, Judaism speaks of a messiah and an apocalypse, the faithful of Islam expect a delivering mahdi and a terrible, bright-sworded angel, and some Christian Scriptures indicate that Christ will summon saints to glory and the wicked to perdition on a future Day of the Lord. Even among the new religions now sprouting on the burnt-over earth of American religious life, the notes of hopeful expectation and dread of doom are sounded. Religious leaders arise, and are examined by their followers: Are you he (or she) who will deliver us? And almost always a direct answer is avoided in replies that sound strangely like, “Who do men say that I am?” Today, in many areas of America, people are asking a middle-aged Korean named Sun Myung Moon who he is. Writer Jane Day Mook, in six months of extensive research, has come up with some of the answers.

The Unification Church

There has been a rash of headlines:

Korean Preacher Urges U.S. Not to “Destroy President” Minneapolis Star, December 1, 1973

Watergate Day of Prayer Asked by Unification Church Washington Post, December 18, 1973

Unification Church Program Under Way in Houston Religious News Service, December 27, 1973

There have been other media reports:

█ On December 26, 1973, Congressman Guy Vander Jagt of Michigan read into the Congressional Record a statement by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon of Korea, founder of the Unification Church International, urging Americans to forgive, love, unite.

█ Governor Wendell Anderson of Minnesota and Mayors Charles Stenvig and Larry Cohen of Minneapolis and St. Paul, respectively, issued proclamations saluting Moon when he visited the Twin Cities in December last year.

█ Twelve hundred supporters of Moon turned out—with specially issued tickets (100 of them for the best seats up front) — to cheer President Nixon at the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the White House on December 13, 1973. They carried signs saying, “God loves Nixon,” “Support the President,” and quite simply, “God.” Afterward, when the President came to greet them in Lafayette Park, one writer reports, they knelt down as he drew near.

█ Six weeks later Moon was invited to the 22nd annual National Prayer Breakfast in the Washington Hilton Hotel. While it was going on, more than 1,000 of Moon’s followers gathered to sing patriotic songs and demonstrate their support of the President. Tricia Nixon Cox and her husband walked among the disciples and spoke with Neil Salonen, national head of the Unification Church.

█ The next day, Moon had an unscheduled meeting with President Nixon. He embraced the President and then, it is reported, “prayed fervently in his native tongue while the President listened in silence.” Before leaving, Moon exhorted the President not to knuckle under to pressure but to stand up for his convictions.

What is this all about? Who is this Korean religious leader, Sun Myung Moon, who reaches the eye of those in high office, including the President himself?

What is this Unification Church that has suddenly surfaced in the United States with so much noise and splash? Is it really a Christian church? Is its aim political or religious, or both?

The Unification Church (whose full name is The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity) found its way into the consciousness of a few Americans about 15 months ago. In Tarrytown, New York, a gracious estate of 22 acres overlooking the Hudson River quietly changed hands for $850,000. [Price confirmed by Michael Mickler in History of the UC in the US.] “Belvedere” became a center for the Unification Church.

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Korean messiah? Christ of the second advent? Young Americans find new faith and new life in following him.

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Joyous, disciplined, loving, Moon’s young followers express the confidence of the deeply committed.

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Suddenly the residents of Tarrytown discovered that, because this is a “church” and therefore tax exempt, they had lost $8,000 in city taxes. They discovered, too, that by the summer of 1973 the estate was teeming with young people—Japanese, Korean, German, Austrian, and especially British.

The British—115 of them—came in response to ads posted on their college bulletin boards: New York and back for $25 and a summer of “leadership training” to boot. But the Belvedere mansion was not adequate. Crowding was dismal, regulations and restrictions irksome, morale bad, the program unfocused, the unabashed conversion tactics unpalatable. A good many of the students apparently went home to England disappointed and angry.

Meanwhile, the Unification Church had purchased a home for their leader, Sun Myung Moon, who has acquired permanent residency visas in the United States for himself and his family. Reported purchase price of the second estate was $620,000 with an additional $50,000 said to have been spent for furnishings.

By summer’s end attention shifted to New York City and the start of Moon’s 21-city Day of Hope Tour. Full-page ads appeared in the local papers:

CHRISTIANITY IN CRISIS NEW HOPE

Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The ads carried, center-page, a picture of a pleasant-faced Korean man, sometimes in Korean dress, sometimes in Western, sometimes posed with the capitol dome in the background. They told of coming meetings in Carnegie Hall. The same pictures and message were in subways, drug stores, shop windows. They were on leaflets handed out by dozens of earnest young men and women, some American, some from abroad.

Invitations went out to city leaders, especially clergy: “Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon request the honor of your presence” at a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. ...

Mayor John Lindsay and Senator Jacob Javits sent messages of regret, but approximately 250 others came. Catholic and Protestant clergy, armed services chaplains, foundation executives, university professors. Solid names all.

The pattern was to be repeated across the country as the much publicized Day of Hope Tour moved south and west through the last three months of last year, and again in the second tour of 33 cities that began in mid-February.

I went with my husband to the first presentation by Mr. Moon at Carnegie Hall on October 1. Outside, a few protesters milled about (Jehovah’s Witnesses mostly). Inside, the lobby was full of young people, most of them Oriental. “Welcome Mother. Welcome Father,” said a charming Korean girl taking our tickets as guards looked through our briefcases. “Welcome to our program. Thank you for coming, Mother. Enjoy it please.”

Mr. Moon was already sitting on stage. He was wearing Western dress, as was his translator, Lieutenant Colonel Pak Bo Hi, formerly a military attache stationed in Washington.

Moon spoke in Korean, flailing the air and pounding the lectern. It was not easy to follow his message, which was about Adam, Eve, Satan, and the Holy Spirit, linked in a mysterious theology we could not piece together.

Who is this man Moon, and what was the message he wanted us to hear?

Sun Myung Moon was born in what is now North Korea in the village of Kwangju Sangsa Ri [in North P'yŏngan province] on January 6, 1920. His parents were Christians, members of the Presbyterian Church, which is the largest Protestant denomination in Korea. After attending village primary school Moon was sent to high school in the southern city of Seoul.

On Easter Sunday 1936, when he was 16, Moon had a vision. As he prayed on a mountainside, he relates, Jesus himself appeared and told him “to carry out my unfinished task.” Then a voice from heaven said, “You will be the completer of man’s salvation by being the second coming of Christ.”

The local ground was ready for such ideas. Already there were among some Pentecostal Christians in the underground church in Pyongyang predictions of a new messiah who would be a Korean. As Moon went about his engineering studies at [a Technical High School affiliated with] Waseda University in Tokyo, he pondered, remembering his vision. In 1944 he returned to North Korea and set about to develop among these Pentecostals a following of his own. In 1946 he founded the “Broad Sea Church.” His followers, it is said, were fanatical people.

Meanwhile, in South Korea a man named Kim Paik-Moon [or Kim Baek-moon], knowing the prophecy of a Korean messiah, had already taken the obvious next step. Kim considered himself a savior and said so. In Paju, north of Seoul, he had established a community called “Israel Soodo Won” (Israel Monastery), and Moon spent six months there learning what was to become the basis of his own theology, the “Divine Principle,” before returning to Pyongyang.

It was about this time that he changed his original name of Yong Myung Moon to Sun Myung Moon. To many people “Yong” means dragon. “Myung” means shining, and Moon and Sun are understood as in English. Therefore, since 1946 his name has meant Shining Sun and Moon. It savors of divinity and of the whole universe. A name is essential to an Oriental, as revealing one’s character.

Now the facts become uncertain. Between 1946 and 1950 Sun Myung Moon spent time in prison in North Korea. The reason? His anti-Communist activities, Moon testifies, reminding us of the rabid Communism of North Korea. Bigamy and adultery, others claim, noting that his real anti-Communist campaign did not take shape until 1962.

In any case, late in 1950 Moon was released and he trekked to South Korea as a refugee with two or three [it was two] disciples. Settling in Busan, he began to propagate his principles. In 1954 he founded his new church [in Seoul], calling it “The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.”

Moon had gleaned his theological ideas from Kim [Baek-moon], and a follower, Yoo Hyo-won [Eu Hyo-won], wrote them down. By 1957 Divine Principle, which proclaims the theology of the Unification Church, was in print. It was first published in English in this country in 1966 and for a second time in 1973.

Divine Principle is concerned with the physical as well as the spiritual salvation of humankind, and the doctrine goes like this:

God intended that Adam and Eve should be perfect and that therefore their children also would be perfect. But Satan entered the Garden of Eden and seduced Eve. By this act she became impure, her blood forever tainted. This taint she passed on to Adam, through their union, and so he too—and their children and all humankind—became forever impure.

God wanted to redeem humanity from this impurity. Therefore, he sent to earth Jesus, the second Adam, and Jesus began the work of redemption. Spiritual salvation he achieved. But God’s will was once again thwarted by Satan. Jesus died on the cross before he could marry and father children. Thus, physical redemption was not accomplished. Our blood is still impure. Now it is time for the third Adam or “the Christ of the second advent.” It is time for the physical redemption of humanity and the reign of the New Israel, Korea.

How will all this come about? Quite simply: the third Adam sent by God to earth—to Korea—will marry a perfect woman, and their children will be the first of a new and perfect world. Eden will return to earth. Heaven will be here, not in some shadowy afterlife.

Does Moon consider himself the new messiah? In the early days of the movement, he admitted that he did. He no longer does so, and his followers are apt to smile when asked what they believe and say, “It is a personal matter.” In the national headquarters of the Unification Church in Washington, however, a votive candle burns beneath a portrait of Moon. Furthermore, in some materials of the Unification Church in Korea there are mythical tales relating that Moon was worshiped by Jesus. Jesus asked Moon to help him complete the saving of humankind and supposedly said, “I have done half, but you can do the other half.”

The half assigned to Moon, of course, involves his fourth and present wife. In the early 1940s Moon was married, but in 1954 this first wife left him because, he said, “she did not understand my mission.” He also is said to have had two other wives before marrying in 1960 an 18-year-old [she was 17] high school graduate named Hak Ja Han. At the time of their union (which is called “the Marriage of the Lamb”), he told his followers that she had not yet achieved his own spiritual perfection, but he was confident that she would in time. Together they are the new Adam and the new Eve, the parents of the universe, and their children herald the coming perfection of humanity.

Here reference must be made to “pikareum,” or “blood separation,” which is referred to in Japanese and Korean sources. In this secret initiation rite, it is said that the inner-core members must have intercourse. In the early days of the Unification Church, this was with Moon who, through the act, made pure the initiate.

In 1955 in Seoul Moon was imprisoned briefly and several students and professors were expelled from their universities because of engaging in what were called “the scandalous rites of the Unification Church.” However, in the 14 years since Moon’s marriage to Hak Ja Han, it is not known whether in the secrecy of the initiation ceremony, the rite has become purely a symbolic one.

When asked about this matter of purification, a leader of the Unification Church in the United States replied that purification takes place at the marriage ceremony and that, with special prayers, God’s spiritual blessing and purification are conferred through Moon.

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To Moon, Communism is equivalent to Satan. Anti-Communism is the political backbone of his movement.

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Both the theology and what were understood as the practices of the Unification Church have been anathema to main-line Christians in Korea. Moon himself was excommunicated by the Presbyterian Church in Korea as long ago as 1948.

His church has not been accepted as a member of either the National Council of Churches or the National Association of Evangelicals in Korea, both of whom state unequivocally that the Unification Church is not Christian.

But Korea is used to offbeat religious movements. There are dozens of splinter sects and “new religions” there. The Unification Church, or Tong-il Kyo, is one of the largest of these with its claimed membership of 300,000 Koreans.

The Unification Church claims a world membership of about a half million. In the United States the number of followers is estimated at about 10,000 so far with between 2,000 and 3,000 core members.

[A more accurate assessment would be up to 20,000 in Korea and up to 200,000 as a worldwide total.]

The Unification Church may not be accepted by Korean Christians, but it is openly favored by the present government in Korea, and this sets it apart.

In November 1972 President Park Chung-hee promulgated a new constitution giving himself sweeping power. Christian leaders, among others, mounted effective opposition to it and called for a “democratic” constitution. On January 8, 1974, the president responded by decreeing anyone criticizing the constitution would be tried and, if guilty, imprisoned for up to 15 years.

On February 1, six ministers and evangelists (five Presbyterian and one Methodist) were sentenced to up to 15 years’ imprisonment for their criticism of the constitution. They were judged not by a jury of peers in a civil court, but by a special court-martial at the South Korean Defense Ministry.

Compare Moon, in this context of South Korean politics. Moon started and directs near Seoul a school to which the Korean government annually sends thousands of civilian officials and military personnel for training in techniques of anti-Communism.

In Moon’s view Communism is ideologically equivalent to Satan. Anti-Communism is therefore the political backbone of his movement. Thus he wins the support (which may be in part financial) of the government. At the same time Moon, as a “religious” leader, lends the administration the aura of respectability that all autocracies find useful when, for both home and overseas consumption, it is most needed.

Moon exports to 40 countries the main components of his religious-political movement: the Divine Principle theology with its Korean messiah coupled with vigorous anti-Communism. Chameleonic, the group changes its coloration depending on locale and circumstances.

Sponsors of the International Federation for Victory over Communism, they take on in the United States a quiet title: the Freedom Leadership Foundation. In Japan, however, where they have the support of right-wing groups, they are openly part of the World Anti-Communist League. Here in the United States they sponsor prayer and fasting “for the Watergate Crisis.” In Japan, at the time of Red China’s seating in the United Nations, it was prayer and fasting “for Victory over Communism.”

Everywhere, political involvement is a high priority. The Freedom Leadership Foundation, a Unification Church subsidiary, openly avows its goal of “ideological victory over Communism in the United States.” Gary Jarmin, the 24-year-old secretary-general of the FLF says that they are already spending $50,000 to $60,000 per year trying to influence senators and congressmen on national security issues.

As a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, FLF is forbidden to lobby for specific legislation, but Jarmin and his seven colleagues in the work don’t hesitate to carry on “educational” programs for legislative aides. Furthermore, Jarmin says, there will soon be a totally separate, new organization that will engage in direct lobbying and openly support political candidates.*

* See John Marks, “From Korea with Love,” The Washington Monthly, February 1974, page 57

The World Freedom Institute is another branch of the FLF’s work, training young people in anti-Communist techniques from an ideological and “religious” point of view. Its International Leadership Seminars are rigorous.

Applicants must pass a preliminary interview. Alcohol and drugs are not permitted, smoking is allowed only at certain times and places, clothing must be clean and neat. All scheduled activities must be attended from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily, especially the lectures on Divine Principle, Communism, and Unification thought as a harmony of the Judeo-Christian image of God and the Eastern principle of yin-yang.

For all this, it must be said that political action within the Unification Church is probably limited to a few at center. Moon’s young converts may not be aware of the political side of their movement at all except in the most general terms.

If they wave banners and rally for Nixon, they feel it is because he is ordained by God and given power to be President at this time. Essentially they want to change the moral and spiritual order. They are committed to that, and for them it is enough.

Wherever they go, the Unification Church works to enlist the young. According to those who know the movement in Korea, Japan, and the United States, they are largely the disenchanted young—those whose activism in the ’60s and early ’70s has seemed to bring scant results, those who are turned off by the institutionalized establishment, who are looking for commitment and community, who want not just something but someone to believe in, who want unequivocal answers within a framework of discipline.

There are thousands of young Americans who, in our current retreat from involvement into privatism, fit this description. Moon’s followers are among them. Here in the Unification Church they find instantly a place among their own kind. The hierarchy itself is composed of young people.

The members live in communes that have been set up in most major cities of the country. “It’s like a family,” said one girl who helped establish a new church in Texas. “The whole purpose of the center is based upon God. There’s no premarital sex or drugs or smoking or drinking.” Indeed, Moon thunders against “sexual immorality” as the deadliest of sins.

These are young people who are earnest, sincere, committed, and of high moral character. They are also neat, pleasant, and polite. They are convinced. And they are innocent.

They probably know nothing whatever of Moon’s questionable background or of his strong right-wing political stance. And probably they do not know Christianity well enough (though they study the Bible fervently) to question the theology of Divine Principle. But they have a staunch belief in basic moral values and the possibility and power of spiritual redemption.

If you have not already seen the members of the Unification Church in your town, you will. They have centers in all 50 states and they are busy soliciting both converts and money.

In New York they have reportedly purchased a large old house a few blocks from the Columbia University campus and are offering rooms there for a low rent. They have established an office on the campus under the name of “Collegiate Association for Research of Principles” or CARP (appropriating the traditional Christian symbol of the fish) and at the time of this writing are busy recruiting students for a one-week International Leadership Seminar scheduled for the March recess at the former seminary of the Christian Brothers in Barrytown, New York, which the Unification Church recently purchased.

Some of the Columbia CARP group seem to have had experience in the movement elsewhere. For instance, one young man, a Japanese graduate student, asked a professor at nearby Union Theological Seminary to give him a private crash course in Christianity—something he had not needed for the work in Japan.

To raise money Moon’s followers have so far been selling flowers, home-made candles, bottled arrangements of dried flowers and grasses, and ginseng tea, a herbal tea with medicinal properties.

Everything they earn—everything—goes back to the Unification Church. They claim that when it was necessary to raise $280,000 for a down payment on the Belvedere estate in Tarrytown, the core members across the country dropped everything for eight weeks and did nothing but sell their wares.

Flowers and candles? Yes—and they raised the down payment and more.

In our town on a recent Saturday morning, a young Japanese girl came into a drugstore carrying a small bucket with “Drug Abuse” painted on it in white letters. In her other hand she held bouquets of pink and white carnations wrapped in green wax paper.

“I am Takako,” said the girl. “I am selling these flowers for the One World Crusade. Would you buy some, please?” The high school girl behind the counter looked doubtful but asked, “What is the One World Crusade?”

“Have you heard of the Unification Church?” asked Takako. “We are working against drug abuse.” She held out a paper encased in plastic. At the top in large letters it read: “Immorality/Drug/Abuse/Delinquency/Family Conduct.” Then it introduced Takako and again mentioned the program against drug abuse.

A bystander, a man, asked, “What is this program against drug abuse? I am interested in that myself.”

Takako struggled with English. “You know the Bible?” she asked. “We have meeting and religious education, and we study the secrets of the Bible.”

“But your program against drugs?” the man persisted.

“We work against drugs from the heart,” said Takako. “It is a heart thing, a heart change.”

The man smiled and shook his head. The drugstore owner and a woman customer each bought a bouquet.

This young Japanese girl has left her natural family back in Japan and has come halfway around the world to be part of another family, the Unification Family. This supplants her mother and father, her brothers and sisters. According to Unification doctrine they are impure and imperfect.

She herself, as she is initiated into the Unification Church, will be made pure, and her real family from now on is the group of purified and to-be-purified members like herself. The sadness she has caused (and this sadness is widespread in the homes these young people have left) is of no consequence.

---

Flowers, candles, tea—where does the real money come from that supports the projects of Moon’s church?

---

The idea of family is central to Moon’s teaching. The family gives blessing. At the top is the vast human family, then the national family, finally the marital family. One must be in a family to be saved, for the family provides the basic structure for the new Eden.

Most of the young people who join the Unification Church are single. After a period of membership—usually at least three years—they may be married if they have achieved an acceptable spiritual level. Marriages are arranged—a vast improvement, Moon’s followers say, over the chaotic system of personal choice that has destroyed the American family.

The arrangements used to be made by Moon himself, who knew most individual members in the early days and had, it is said, an uncanny gift for sizing up those he did not know. Now, with the growth of the movement, the arrangement of marriages will surely have to be delegated to senior members of the Family.

In 1970 Moon gathered a great group together in Seoul and performed a mass marriage of 777 couples. For those whom he joins, his blessing is a cherished benediction. It carries the notion that Moon himself is the giver of offspring to those he blesses and it makes pure the tainted blood of those who are wed.

Where does the money come from that supports the Unification Church? No one seems able to find out.

The Unification Church owns estates, a conference center, and many town houses (such as the handsome one on East 71st Street in New York).

It supports its core members in their work of evangelism, teaching, and preaching at a cost for food, clothing, and shelter conservatively estimated at $5 million per year. It brings hundreds of young Germans, Austrians, Japanese, and Koreans to this country at its expense, not theirs.

It pays for full-page ads in big newspapers. It publishes a tabloid newspaper, books, leaflets. It rents large meeting halls and lecture facilities for its leader to speak in. It invites the country’s leaders to banquets at the best hotels.

Where does the money come from? Not primarily from selling flowers, candles, and ginseng tea, though this effort should not be downgraded or underestimated. The member-businesses (in San Francisco, a printing press; in Denver, a cleaning establishment; in Washington, a new tea house) may swell the coffers but not substantially.

Moon himself is reputed to be a millionaire, the head of a sizeable conglomerate in Korea that product marble vases, machine parts, ginseng tea, pharmaceuticals, titanium, air rifles and other items. The value of the empire is estimated at $10 to $15 million. Some followers claim that Moon plows the profits back into the Unification Church, but others insist the industries belong to Moon, who has become a very wealthy man.

What outside backing does Moon have? Substantial sums may come from right wing Japanese industrialists and groups that are eager to reestablish the economic power Japan once held over Korea and who consider Moon “their man.” Former Japanese Prime Minister Kishi, leader of the violently anti-Peking faction of the Liberal Democratic Party, is actively associated with Moon’s International Federation for Victory over Communism.

The big question is: Does the Korean government back Moon? In the article in The Washington Monthly referred to above, John Marks, a student of the CIA in the U.S. and other countries, tackles this question. The Korean CIA, Marks points out, has on occasion secretly subsidized “private” organizations like the Unification Church if they will improve Korea’s image. It would certainly be interested, he says, in a “burgeoning religious-political movement run by a Korean who supports virtually all of the goals and who is in a position to work and lobby for its government’s position on the American political scene.”

Whatever the sources of its money, the Unification Church is in excellent shape financially, and that is very important to it. In Moon’s thinking, money is power and power indicates the blessing of God. God is on the side of power and wealth.

Moon and his followers have come a long way down the road from the mountainside where an earlier messiah, who had nowhere to lay his head, taught his disciples: “Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the meek. They shall inherit the earth.” A.D.

Jane Mook is a freelance writer and an occasional contributor to A.D. In addition to mission articles, she has compiled our portfolios of religious art at Christmas and Easter. Her home is in Tenafly, New Jersey.

A few of Sun Myung Moon’s Front Groups

The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity

The Unification Church

Project Unity

One World Crusade

International Cultural Foundation (ICF)

International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFVOC)

Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP)

Freedom Leadership Foundation (FLF)

World Freedom Institute

American Youth for a Just Peace

The Little Angels of Korea

Professors’ World Peace Academy (PWPA)

Committee for Responsible Dialogue

Tong-Il Industry Company

Il-Hwa Pharmaceutical Company

Il-Shin Stoneworks Company

Tong Wha Titanium Company

Tae Han Rutile Company [rutile = titanium dioxide]

Where Moon got his theology from

Moon’s theology for his pikareum sex rituals with all the 36 wives

The FFWPU is unequivocally not Christian

Sun Myung Moon: The Emperor of the Universe

United States Congressional investigation of Moon’s organization

#Unification Church #Sun Myung Moon

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radinapetrova · 5 years

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LO1 >> Target Audience

#BriefFour

This project aims every person, interested in art. People who can feel deeply and are able to look through the artist’s eyes, to “feel” the love expressed through the sculptures and enjoy it the same way they are enjoying my illustrations, the very first version of these illustrations, which became popular can be seen here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/63075683/Battery-illustrations

People nowadays Vs. People 30 years ago

In the mid-to-late-20th century, the American economy and culture were ripe for 30-year-old men, who — more than European and Japanese — typically landed well-paid careers, bought homes, and supported large families. But since then, getting ahead has become much harder.

What's going on: Today, 30-year-old millennials are more likely to be still living with their parents and, while earning about the same or less than boomers, are typically saddled with college debt.

One consequence: Possible trouble for an older generation that will rely on them doing better.

The background: Millennials now comprise almost a quarter of the population and are the largest generation participating in the workforce. But their median salaries are lower than the prior generation of 30-year-olds, and the financial burdens they carry are heavier, limiting how much their lifestyle can mirror that of their parents:

So far, the trends suggest a break with prior American rites of passage, including marriage and child-bearing. According to some demographers, this break could slow economic growth.

Men are more likely to earn less. In 1975, only a quarter of 25 to 34-year-old men made less than $30K per year, but that number rose to 41% in 2016.

Going deeper: As a measure of upward mobility, 92% of 30-year-olds in 1970 earned more than their parents at that age, according to a 2016 study led by Raj Chetty, a Stanford economist (h/t Roger Lowenstein). But of those who were 30 in 2014, just half earned more.

Chetty attributed most of this erosion to slower GDP growth and a change in the distribution of GDP favoring higher earners: GDP would have to rise by 6% a year to get the same impact, he said, and wealth would have to be distributed much more evenly.

In other words, Chetty suggested, it has become much, much harder for young lower- and middle-income workers to earn as much of the nation's growing wealth as they once did.

Today, 30 year olds are:

Living with their parents: In 1975, when the oldest Boomers were 29, 57% of 18 to 34- year-olds lived with a spouse in their own household. Even as late as 1990, almost half lived with a partner. But in 2016, 31% were living in their parents’ home, making it the new, most common living arrangement for young adults, according to Census data.

Paying more for college: In 1975, college tuition cost $2,450 for public, four-year colleges (in 2017 dollars). In 2017, it was almost $10,000, according to CollegeBoard.

In more debt: In 1989, less than 20% of families had student debt, compared with 41% in 2013, according to the Census. The amount owed almost tripled in that time.

Less likely to be homeowners: 57% of 30 to 34-year-olds were homeowners in 1982, compared with just 45% in 2017.

The impact of significant student debt can be seen in lower marriage rates, according to Dora Gicheva, an economist at UNC Greensboro.

In 2017, 57% of millennials were never married. In 1985 — when boomers were around the same age — only a third had never been married, Pew Research's Richard Fry told Axios. Even accounting for unmarried living partners does not make up the difference, he said.

Having fewer children: When Boomers were in their 20s, the fertility rate was 2.48, well beyond the replacement level of 2.1. Today, it is just 1.76.

When a recent survey asked why they were having fewer kids, most young adults said “child care is too expensive.”

“Millennials are more risk averse than earlier generations at the same age. People 50 or even 25 years ago didn’t wait to be ‘financially well established’ before starting a family. Now it’s considered irresponsible not to.”

— Richard Jackson president of the Global Aging Institute, told Axios

Exceptions:

Opportunity for 30-year-old women has improved, which contributes to falling fertility rates, says Eric Kaufmann, a professor at Birkbeck College.

Millennial women are likelier to hold a Bachelor’s degree than men.

Women’s pay has increased substantially from one generation to the next

The share of young women who are homemakers has decreased from 43% in 1975 to 14% in 2016, according to Census data.

And the percentage of 25 to 29-year-old African Americans and Hispanics with at least a Bachelor's degree has increased even faster than white Americans since 1980, although a gap still exists, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Twice as many African Americans have graduated from college than in 1991 and there has been a 60% increase for Hispanics over the past 20 years.

Still, an income gap between young, white Americans and racial minorities has persisted. Median income for African Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 as a percentage of white Americans has hovered around 75% since 1974.

How dating has changed over the last 100 years

Some people look back fondly on dating, generations ago, with romantic ideas of greater morality and better values. Others think that with all of the online apps and matchmaking websites we have today, it's never been easier to play the field.

But each era of dating in the past century was not without its pros, its cons, and its own set of unspoken rules. From the turn of the 20th century, to the present day, romantic relationships have been an evolving part of culture, just like everything else.

Dating becomes a thing

The concept of dating really began at the turn of the 20th century. Prior to the late early 1900s, courtship was a much more private, unemotional affair. Women would meet with several men, with her parents present, to whittle the pickings down to the most suitable match for marriage, which heavily relied on factors such as financial and social status. When a young woman decided on a man she wanted to see exclusively, their activities as a couple took place either in the household, or at social gatherings. At that time, there was no such thing as just two young lovers "going out on a date."

However, this began to change in the early years of the 20th century, when couples began to go out together in public and unsupervised. Still, the ultimate and very apparent goal was still that of marriage. This stands in stark contrast to today's dating world, when the topic of marriage may not be brought up for several years.

The gentleman caller

The first decade of the 20th century was marked by the figure of the gentleman caller. If a young man was interested in a young woman, he would follow the proper protocol of calling upon her, which meant that he would come to the family's home and (hopefully) be welcomed into their parlor. If he was invited back for subsequent visits, he would be free to come and call upon the young woman during hours specified by her parents.

As the years rolled on into the 1920s, however, this system quickly became outdated and unfavorable. Author Beth L. Bailey writes in her book From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth Century America, "Dating had almost completely replaced the old system of calling by the mid-1920s — and, in so doing, had transformed American courtship." This was a period of time when couples started going out on dates, which also meant they started paying for dates. This changed the relationship dynamic between a young man and a young woman, as now it was the man's duty to pay for the date, whereas before it was the woman who decided the terms of the visit.

Courtship vs. dating

The fundamental difference between courtship and dating is that of freedom. While traditional courtship had its own set of rules and rituals, dating, as it evolved, became less structured. Courtship was seen as a fundamental part of a well-functioning society. When people started dating, relationships became less restricted and more personal.

So what instigated this cultural shift? In Jodi O'Brien's book, Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, Volume I, she writes, "Different institutions were becoming more prominent in the lives of young men and women, such as school, college, and workplaces, which exposed them to a large pool of potential dating partners. As a result, the purpose of dating was primarily to have fun, not to find a marriage partner. However, couples would form after several dates if they were interested in having more exclusive relationships." This starts to resemble what we would now conceive of as modern dating, and the ritual of courtship was left in the dust.

A proper match vs. falling in love

With the introduction of dating also came the focus on falling in love, rather than finding a society-approved match. In previous years, love was not seen as being of central importance to a marriage, and if it was to come it would emerge after the wedding had already occurred. But with the introduction of dating came an increased desire for romance and love before deciding to commit to marriage.

This concept, explained in depth in The Oxford Companion to United States History, goes, "By the early nineteenth century, couples began to consider romantic love prerequisite for marriage and based their unions on companionship. The era's fiction frequently drew on love themes, while articles, essays, and public orations stressed mutual respect, reciprocity, and romance as ingredients of good marriages. Young courting couples chose their own partners, and their letters focused on romance rather than on the practical matters that had dominated the correspondence of earlier generations." The desire to climb the social ladder or to secure one's place in society fell by the wayside, and the desire to find a favorable longterm partner took its place.

Going steady

In the 1950s, "going steady" was the term for being in an exclusive relationship. This status was about the relationship, sure, but it was also about standing out amongst your peers. According to the University of California, Santa Barbara, "Across university campuses, couples publicized their decision to 'go steady' when the man gave the woman an article of his clothing to wear, such as a jacket, sweater, or ring." Dating had become much more about youth culture than about family expectations.

The way in which two people experienced sexuality when dating also shifted. In the earlier part of the 20th century, sex and sexuality were not openly discussed. As author Jodi O'Brien put it, "Sex was desexualized" and reserved for marriage, when the couple had entered into a spiritual union with God. As dating gradually became more about personal pleasure throughout the decades, the expression of sexuality became much more commonplace.

According to the Oxford Companion to United States History, "The terms 'necking' and 'petting' — the former referring to kisses and caresses above the neck, the latter to the same below it — entered public discussion, giving names to previously unspoken private activities." Now when we think of the '50s, we tend to think of a period of purity and the Stepford Wife ideal, but in actuality, it was a time of sexual change that ended up resulting in a dramatic increase in population.

Free love

Between the popularization of rock 'n' roll, and protesting the Vietnam War, 1960s youth culture was hot for revolution. Not only was it the activities of the US government that young people were resisting, but they were shirking old social conventions as well. If the '50s saw young people starting to experiment with sex, the '60s was the resulting explosion of sexual activity in the name of freedom.

For a long time, sex was either not discussed or seen as a kind of enemy — a destroyer of young girl's reputations. But this stopped being the case with the hippie generation. America in the 1960s author Edmund Lindop describes the sexual shift of the period, "For youth of the 1960s, such restrictions were a thing of the past. Many young women took birth control pills to prevent pregnancy. They freely explored their sexual feelings. Sex before marriage was no longer taboo. Young people extolled the benefits of "free love"— that is, making love without marriage or long-term commitments."

There were no rules for dating anymore. Young people did what they wanted, when they wanted, and modern-day "hook up" culture began.

Dating and tech

The next major change in dating started with the introduction of matchmaking services and the internet. But the concept of online dating was being worked out way before the general public even had access to the internet. In 1965, two Harvard students created what is known as "Operation Match" to make dating easier for young people.

The "World Wide Web" officially became available to everyone in 1991, and online dating websites were soon popping up all over the place: Match.com was officially founded in 1995. And it was at the turn of the 21st century that people also began using Craigslist as a way of linking up with other people romantically. Shortly after, sites like OKCupid followed.

Millennial dating

In 2017, you can't turn your head without finding someone who has at least one dating app on their phone: Tinder, Plenty of Fish, and Bumble, to name a few. While some people think this approach to dating really works, others collectively sigh at the thought of the current dating game. So why are so many millennials complaining that dating nowadays is just too frustrating and complicated, when technology was supposed to make it easier?

The individual has become more and more important in today's culture than ever before, and technology has played a big role in that. Just think of the concept of the selfie. This generation is much more focused on themselves than previous generations. Combined with the casual culture of hooking up, one night stands, and friends with benefits, actually finding someone to seriously date can be difficult. Millennials simply have so many options that "going steady" can be a hard pitch to sell.

Is dating getting worse or better?

There is a case for both sides of this argument. Nowadays, we have more freedom to choose how we live our lives. We make up our own rules (or lack thereof) and are allowed so many options in how we wish to interact with romantic partners.

However, this is exactly what makes dating in 2017 so difficult. What does the other person want? Are they looking for something real or are they just trying to have fun? Are there any mind games going on here? Today's dating world is certainly a maze, but that doesn't mean that love doesn't still happen. Whether you meet on Tinder, or you meet at a bar, you can end up finding "the one."

Source: https://www.thelist.com/62575/dating-changed-last-100-years/?utm_campaign=clip

#BriefFour

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realselfblog · 7 years

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The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care

Between 2014 and 2015, death rates increased for eight of the ten leading causes; only death rates caused by cancer fell, and mortality rates for influenza and pneumonia stayed flat.

The first chart paints this sobering portrait of Americans’ health outcomes, presented in the CDC’s data-rich 488-page primer, Health, United States, 2016.

Think of this publication as America’s annual report on health. Every year, it is prepared and submitted to the President and Congress by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. This year’s report was delivered by DHHS Secretary Tom Price to President Trump and the 115th Congress.

The report covers Americans’ health status and determinants of health, health care resources (such as hospitals, doctors, long-term care, and other inputs), use of those resources, and health care spending.

This latest version is the 40th edition of Health, United States, and thus provides an opportunity to understand long-term trends in U.S. health care, patient outcomes, and spending.

Key findings from this report include:

In health outcomes…Between 1975 and 2015, life expectancy at birth in the U.S. increased from 72.6 to 78.8 years for all Americans. Life expectancy was 76.3 years for men and 81.2 years for women.

There was improvement in life expectancy at birth for black Americans versus whites, narrowing the disparity between the two groups: in 1975, life expectancy for whites was 6.6 years longer than for black Americans, falling to a 3.5 year difference.

While the infant mortality rate fell 63% from 16 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1975 to just under 6 deaths per 1,000 in 2014, the rate for non-Hispanic black mothers was much higher at nearly 11 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

In utilization of health resources…The percentage of U.S. health citizens going for health care visits rose between 1997 and 2015 (a proxy for access moving in a positive direction).

The percentage of patients under 75 years staying overnight in hospitals declined, and was stable for those 75 and over.

The rate of prescription drug use grew to 2014: in the past month, with By age, 36.5% of adults 18-34 taking at least one Rx drug in the past 30 days; 70% of people 45-64 taking a prescription in the past month; and 91% of folks aged 65 and over taking at least one Rx in the past 30 days.

An important micro-trend within the Rx prescription rate points to significant growth among older people 65 years and over using five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days: rising 28.4 percentage points for this age group between 1994 and 2014. The report notes that Rx use over the past 40 years has been driven by many factors, including medical need, new drug development and approval, growth in direct-to-consumer (DTC) promotion, and expanding prescription drug coverage in insurance markets. The use of five or more drugs, aka polypharmacy, is a concern that can increase the risk of drug-drug interactions, adverse drug events, and reduced functional capacity, the report adds.

For utilization of health services…Visits to emergency departments fell in 2015 from the previous year for all patients but those without health insurance.

Use of mammograms and colorectal cancer tests increased for all racial and ethnic groups, but disparities still persist among people of color.

Health care spending in the U.S. grew to comprise nearly 18% of the GDP in 2015, from 7.9% in 1975. Money going to hospitals fell as a percent of total spending, as costs for Rx drugs grew from 7% to nearly 12% in 2015. Spending on physicians and clinical services was flat, around 23%, over the period.

Health Populi’s Hot Points: Nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy is allocated to healthcare, but use of resources and outcomes achieved are not spread equally across U.S. health citizens. The issue of health equity should be a central discussion during the current health reform debate as Congress wrestles with re-inventing the Affordable Care Act to either repeal it, replace it, or refine it.

“Pursuing Health Equity” is the timely theme of the June 2017 issue of Health Affairs. “Growing understanding of social factors in determining health outcomes makes it clear that achieving equity requires widening the lens,” Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil writes in his introduction to the topic, highlighting the research articles’ broad coverage on the challenge of health disparities.

In Health Affairs, research based on data from a survey done in 2011-2013 analyzed by Joachim Hero, Alan Zaslavsky, and Bob Blendon, points to a “sobering” finding (in the words of Weil): compared with people living in 32 developed countries, the U.S. was an outlier in the number of people who didn’t believe it was “unfair” that those with higher incomes could afford better health care than people with lower incomes.

In other words, in 2013, health inequity in the U.S. was acceptable to 46% of Americans.

Today, this may be reflected in Americans’ apparent divide in health reform politics, where about one-half of health citizens are more likely to support major health system reforms and the other half, not-so-much.

“As the United States contemplates the future of its health care system, the results of this study are a stark reminder of how far the country had lagged behind its peers in correcting health and health care disparities before the reforms of the ACA,” the authors write.

The ACA bolstered efforts to deal with health disparities through covering preventive care, prescribing a minimum benefit package, and bolstering the country’s primary care backbone to provide a more resilient on-ramp to community-based health care services.

Getting to health equity in the U.S. would lower costs for more intrusive, intensive, technology-based care. Providing health insurance security to all is a necessary but not sufficient path to achieving health equity in America. Spending more on social care to ensure good education, healthy food systems, transportation to take people to where jobs are, and assuring financial wellness are all investments healthy countries make to advance a health citizenry. Interestingly, the very countries whose majority of health citizens said it’s “unfair” that people with higher incomes can afford better health care are those countries who have stronger primary care backbones and social care infrastructure.

The post The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care appeared first on HealthPopuli.com.

The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care posted first on http://ift.tt/2sNcj5z

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maxihealth · 7 years

Text

The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care

Between 2014 and 2015, death rates increased for eight of the ten leading causes; only death rates caused by cancer fell, and mortality rates for influenza and pneumonia stayed flat.

The first chart paints this sobering portrait of Americans’ health outcomes, presented in the CDC’s data-rich 488-page primer, Health, United States, 2016.

This latest version is the 40th edition of Health, United States, and thus provides an opportunity to understand long-term trends in U.S. health care, patient outcomes, and spending.

Key findings from this report include:

In health outcomes…Between 1975 and 2015, life expectancy at birth in the U.S. increased from 72.6 to 78.8 years for all Americans. Life expectancy was 76.3 years for men and 81.2 years for women.

In utilization of health resources…The percentage of U.S. health citizens going for health care visits rose between 1997 and 2015 (a proxy for access moving in a positive direction).

The percentage of patients under 75 years staying overnight in hospitals declined, and was stable for those 75 and over.

For utilization of health services…Visits to emergency departments fell in 2015 from the previous year for all patients but those without health insurance.

Use of mammograms and colorectal cancer tests increased for all racial and ethnic groups, but disparities still persist among people of color.

In other words, in 2013, health inequity in the U.S. was acceptable to 46% of Americans.

The post The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care appeared first on HealthPopuli.com.

The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care posted first on http://ift.tt/2sF7oEr

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titheguerrero · 7 years

Text

The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care

Between 2014 and 2015, death rates increased for eight of the ten leading causes; only death rates caused by cancer fell, and mortality rates for influenza and pneumonia stayed flat.

The first chart paints this sobering portrait of Americans’ health outcomes, presented in the CDC’s data-rich 488-page primer, Health, United States, 2016.

This latest version is the 40th edition of Health, United States, and thus provides an opportunity to understand long-term trends in U.S. health care, patient outcomes, and spending.

Key findings from this report include:

In health outcomes…Between 1975 and 2015, life expectancy at birth in the U.S. increased from 72.6 to 78.8 years for all Americans. Life expectancy was 76.3 years for men and 81.2 years for women.

In utilization of health resources…The percentage of U.S. health citizens going for health care visits rose between 1997 and 2015 (a proxy for access moving in a positive direction).

The percentage of patients under 75 years staying overnight in hospitals declined, and was stable for those 75 and over.

For utilization of health services…Visits to emergency departments fell in 2015 from the previous year for all patients but those without health insurance.

Use of mammograms and colorectal cancer tests increased for all racial and ethnic groups, but disparities still persist among people of color.

In other words, in 2013, health inequity in the U.S. was acceptable to 46% of Americans.

The post The Pursuit of Health Equity and the State of U.S. Health Care appeared first on HealthPopuli.com.

Article source:Health Populi

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mostlysignssomeportents · 6 years

Text

By @Beschizza: My RSS feeds from a decade ago, a snapshot of gadget blogging when that was a thing