News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Life
Culture & Art
Hobbies
News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Culture & Art
Hobbies
Your Comments Matter - Reporter Resources for CODE BLUE. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Thanks to Mary Ellen, a veteran health care professional for the comment above. She is absolutely right. CODE BLUE: Inside America’s Medical Industrial Complex, was written intentionally to share with policy makers how our health care arrived at this moment in history, and suggest ways to improve it. For reporters intersed in following this lead, […]
A Clash of Values Playing Out In Full View. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee As the new year, 2025, fast approaches, it’s wise to pause, and gather our thoughts as a nation. Few would argue that we’ve been through a lot over the past decade. And quite naturally, we humans are prone to blame individuals rather than circumstances (some of which have been beyond our control) for […]
Not My Final Column. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee As my wife often reminds me, “Comparisons are toxic.” And, in general, I agree and try to respect this cardinal rule. But these are extraordinary times. So grant me this exception. On December 9, 2024, in my early morning survey of the news, two articles demanded my attention. The first was an editorial […]
AI and Medicine: A Brief History and Where We Are in 2024 - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
(printable PDF) Mike Magee The history of Medicine has always involved a clash between the human need for compassion, understanding, and partnership, and the rigors of scientific discovery and advancing technology. At the interface of these two forces are human societies that struggle to remain forward looking and hopeful while managing complex human relations. The question has […]
Ten People Who Shaped HHS You Never Heard Of. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee The incoming Trump Administration nominees for positions in Health and Human Services (like RFK Jr. to direct the department and Mehmet Oz to head Medicare and Medicaid Services) are names you know. But over the years, many of the players who had the greatest impact on America’s health care system as we know […]
What is the Value of our Humanity? - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee The image of William Westmoreland, speaking direct to the camera in the 1974 documentary “Hearts and Minds”, is stark and unapologetic. He addresses the interviewer’s question about extensive loss of civilian lives during the Vietnam War this way: “Well, the Oriental doesn’t put the same high price on life as the Westerner. And […]
Thomas E. Kurtz and "A Few Good Men" - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee This has been a challenging week for me, but not for the reasons you might think. Compartmentalization skills have allowed me to push the 2024 Presidential election into the back reaches of my mind as I worked to complete teaching a course on “AI and Medicine” at the Presidents College at the University […]
A Post-Election Resource - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Access Online Hard Copy We are in the grip of change and our American Democracy is at risk. Change is one of the few human experiences that supports two dramatically opposed human emotions. On the one hand, change is fear, and on the other, change is exploration. And while you can support both emotions simultaneously, […]
Will Trump (with RFK as Intern) Play Doctor Again? - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee It has been a collision of past, present and future this week in the wake of Trump’s victory on November 5, 2024. The country, both for and against, has been unusually quiet. It is unclear whether this is in recognition of political exhaustion, or the desire of victors to be “good winners” and […]
Penn State College of Medicine's Oath: A Vote For Democracy. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Two years ago, prior to the 2022 election, mental health experts alerted the medical world to their version of an assessment scale for yet another new condition – “doomscrolling.” As defined in the article, “Constant exposure to negative news on social media and news feeds could take the form of ‘doomscrolling’ which is commonly […]
Our 60's Hippie Casts Her Vote. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Pat Magee Jaksha Mike Magee This is my sister, Pat, #3 (I was #4) of 12 children born to Grace and Bill Magee. She was born on Elvis Presley’s birthday – 1 year and 12 days before I was born. That was 14 months after our father had returned from Europe at the close of […]
"Our Fathers, Who Art In Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Names." - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee My father and Arnold Palmer had a great deal in common – and none of it involved golf. They were both men of faith and lived into their 80’s. My father was Catholic, and Arnold Palmer was Presbyterian. But on the day that Palmer died (September 25, 2016), Benedictine Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki […]
Washington's "Coup d'oleil" Is Laser Focused On Trump and Project 2025. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee John Plumb knows a bit about George Washington and what Trump has lately been calling “the enemy within.” A Navy Officer for 22 years, and current Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, he holds a PhD in aerospace engineering and is a student of warfare. One of his favorite topics is George […]
Altman v. Musk. Who Will Rule on “The Island of Accelerationalism?” - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Has America turned into an “Island of Musk?” He seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. As Trump’s new best friend, he’s opened up the gates of Twitter-hell, morphed into a steady stream of crypto-cash, and demonstrated his dance moves alongside Trump at featured venues. He’s also launched “a robot […]
"Do Not Limp To The Finish Line." - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee One of the basic principles of good journalism is “Do not bury the lead.” So here’s mine 21 days before the 2024 election: It is not enough to simply reject Trump. Supporters of our Democracy can not limp to the finish line. To neutralize the Kevin Roberts’ (Project 2025) and Leo Leonard’s (Federalist […]
"We The People." - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Comments are encouraged. To contribute a comment, click on word “comments” above. ——————————————————————————————————- Mike Magee With the 2024 Presidential election four weeks away, I continue to struggle with the fact that up to 75 million of our fellow citizens may vote for Trump. On the surface, it feels like a broad recrimination of the goodness […]
The Silicon Curtain Is Fast Descending On Our Democracy. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Whether you’re talking health, environment, technology or politics, the common denominator these days appears to be information. And the injection of AI, not surprisingly, has managed to reinforce our worst fears about information overload and misinformation. As the “godfather of AI”, Geoffrey Hinton, confessed as he left Google after a decade of leading […]
Advise From A Young Woman: Vote For Someone You Admire. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee We have six weeks to go before choosing a new leader for our still young and evolving democracy. The results will have a profound impact on the health of our citizens, their relationships with each other, and the health of our form of government under the rule of law. When making a choice, […]
How Common Are Miscarriages in America? - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
A miscarriage, or pregnancy loss before 20 completed weeks, is not an uncommon affair. Approximately 15% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, mainly the result of chromosomal or genetic abnormalities. That amounts to some 540,000 women in crisis, which most believe is under counted. 80% of miscarriages occur in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. Treatment Prior to Dobbs If […]
Miscarriage & Justices - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee “What did they know, and when did they know it?” These are the questions Americans have become accustomed to asking of their leaders, dating back to Nixon and extending to Trump, and all Presidents in between. But now the same questions have surfaced, to the extreme discomfort of conservative Justices, as death and […]
AI and The Future of American Medicine - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee MD (This paper is provided Open Source as a public service. It may be republished and distributed with proper attribution. Reading Time: 30 minutes.) The history of Medicine has always involved a clash between the human need for compassion, understanding, and partnership, and the rigors of scientific discovery and advancing technology. At the […]
Political Jiu-Jitsu: Trump As A Liability to Deep State Republicans - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Funny think about that Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership.” Trump declared in this week’s debate, “I know nothing about it.” But in addition to the vast majority of authors and editors of the document having served in the prior Trump administration, the former President’s name is mentioned in the 887 page document over […]
Project 2025: Cheat Sheet for Tonight's Debate. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Donald Trump says he’s never heard of Project 2025. Denials aside, expect the term Project 2025 to come up multiple times in this evening’s debate. But you are less likely to hear the name Kevin Roberts. He’s been president of the Heritage Foundation, and the voice for Project 2025 until it became too […]
A Healthy Educated Labor Force Is The Key To Economic Prosperity. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Another Labor Day has come and gone. But support for the Labor Movement, and the focus on housing, health services, and economic mobility are front and center for the Harris-Walz ticket as Tuesday, November 5th approaches. As Dora Costa PhD, Professor of Economics at UCLA puts it: “Health improvements were not a precondition for […]
What Are the Harris-Walz Health Policy Team Reading? - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Clearly the Harris-Walz ticket has been doing their homework. Last week, the book above was spotted on one prominent thought-leader’s pile: “Human Evolutionary Demography.” It’s a 780-page academic Tour de force led by veteran scientist Oskar Burger, leader of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and the Laboratory of Evolutionary Biodemography. That’s […]
Dobbs’ Created “Moral Distress” - Country Responds "We're Not Going Back!" - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee When Andrew Jameton, a Nursing Professor at the Department of Mental Health and Community Nursing at UCSFin 1984 published “Nursing Practice: The Ethical Issues”, the term “Moral Distress” was a novel term in clinical health care. It focused primarily on “care that they were expected to provide but ethically opposed.” Over the past […]
What's In A Voice? Sam Altman Thinks He Knows. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee When OpenAI decided to respond to clamoring customers demanding voice mediated interaction on Chat GPT, CEO Sam Altman went all in. That’s because he knew this was about more than competitive advantage or convenience. It was about relationships – deep, sturdy, loyal and committed relationships. He likely was aware, as well, that the […]
"Weird" - Culture and Technology and Politics Collide. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it,” was an admonition I heard literally hundreds of times growing up. The source was my mother who majored in English and Drama at Rutgers. She was especially tuned in, not only to words and meaning, but also to volume, cadence, speed, and tone. […]
“The Week Kamala Undressed The Actors” by Leo Tolstoy - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Over the past week, voters have been reintroduced to JD Vance, and have found the experience disquieting. In a FOX 2021 interview, he tied women’s worth to birthing, stating that “We should give miserable, childless lefties less control over our country and its kids…” and claimed that their choice of cats over babies […]
An Opportunity To Reset The Republican Party: The Case of Justice Tom Parker. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Without hyperbole, Project 2025 feels similar to Germany in the early 1930’s. Their website introduction reads: “It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left, we need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to […]
U.S. Presidents and Vice-Presidents Are Never Immune From Danger - Political Or Otherwise. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee This has been a disorienting period of mixed messages when it comes to the highest offices of the land. Just two weeks ago on July 1, 2024, a majority of the Supreme Court decided to expand Presidential immunity for criminal malfeasance to former President Trump who had so severely tarnished the post on […]
"Off the Record, Mike, What's Pelosi Doing in a Few Bullet Points?" - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
OK. But not to be attributed to me. Speaker Emeritus Pelosi this morning (on MSNBC) signaled the timing (after the NATO summit) and outcome (Biden pulls out of the campaign) for the good of America and the Democratic Party. Pelosi’s private message to the President: Joe, by next week it will come out that you […]
Limping To The Finish Line Will Not Cure This Problem. Crushing the “Trump Reich.” - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee I have always felt a kinship with EJ Dionne. We are both Boomers, though I am 4 years his senior. We share similar politics, religious origins, early Catholic school educations, fathers in health care and mothers who were teachers, deep New England roots, addiction to the written word, blessings with long marriages and […]
Boomer Boomerang. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee Last year the New York Times Editorial Board asked the rhetorical question, “Can America Age Gracefully?” After last week’s Presidential Debate, the answer to the query seems pretty clear. “Apparently not?” This is not simply a function of the graying of America (and her two Presidential candidates), but also a result of our […]
The "final, final, final" Final Battle of Donald Trump. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee We now are two days away from the “final, final, final” Final Battle of Donald Trump. One year ago, the former President, now convicted felon, promised his supporters in Columbus, Georgia that his recently announced bid for the presidency was “the final battle” against “corrupt forces” and the “Deep State” which was being […]
Healthy Women Mean a Healthy Democracy. - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee When he assumed the role on June 13, 2023, Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH focused on inequities in health care as a top priority for his year in office. In a memorable opening that day in Chicago, the Wisconsin anesthesiologist shared a personal mission with 700 AMA delegates centered on his then 4 […]
What Are The Alitos Afraid Of? - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee What’s up with the Alitos these days? Justice Sam weighed in with a tip of the hat toward “godliness,” while a seemingly unhinged flag-flying Martha-Ann invited the world inside their marriage, declaring “He never controls me.” Good to know. Making it clear that her visceral reaction to a neighbor’s PRIDE flag was faith-based, […]
“Mr. Trump, I was Superman. You are no Superman!” - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
With Christopher Reeves/ Sept.25, 2002 Mike Magee As we approach the 20th anniversary of the death of Christopher Reeve, I’m drawn back to the evening of September 25, 2002, and a private conversation in a back room off the ballroom of the Marriott Marquis Hotel. As we awaited the ceremonial beginnings of the Christopher Reeve […]
"Justice delayed is justice denied . . . but not forever." - HealthCommentary : HealthCommentary
Mike Magee The date was March 16, 1868. The speaker was a British statesman and former Prime Minister, William Evert Gladstone. In a dispute that day, during vigorous debate in Parliament, Gladstone, in response to supportive cheers from colleagues said , “But above all, if we be just men, we shall go forward in the […]