Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Monday, July 27, 2009

Health Care Explained

By Hootsbuddy

Dr. Wachter shares a couple of stories explaining American health care.


You�ve just moved to a new town and stroll into a restaurant on the main drag for lunch. None of the large tables are empty, so you sit down at a table nearly filled with other customers. The menu is nice and varied. The waiter approaches you and asks for your order. You�re not that hungry, so you ask for a Caesar salad. You catch the waiter looking at you sideways, but you don�t think too much of it. He moves on to take the order of the person sitting to your right.



�And what can I get for you today, sir?�



�Oh, the lobster sounds great. I�ll have that.�



You�re taken aback, since the restaurant doesn�t seem very fancy, and your tablemate is dressed rather shabbily. The waiter proceeds to the next customer.



�And you, ma�am?�



�The lobster sounds good,� she says. �And I'll take a small filet mignon on the side.�



Now you�re completely befuddled. You tap your neighbor on the shoulder and ask him what�s going on.



�Oh, I guess nobody told you,� he whispers. �This is a lunch club. We add up the bill at the end of the meal, and divide it by the number of people at the table. That�s how your portion is determined.�



You frantically call back the waiter and change your order to the lobster.



�If the waiter makes a 15% tip on the total bill and you ask him to recommend a dish,� Enthoven asked our health econ class, a glint in his eye, �do you think he�ll recommend the salad or the lobster?�



�And if most of the lunch business in town is in the form of these lunch clubs, do you think you�ll find more restaurants specializing in lobster or in salad?�


As an old food service guy I like stories about food. The public has taught me a lot over the years, but more about human behavior than food. One of my favorite lines is "Oh, no....no bread for me, thanks.  I'm gonna get a dessert today!"



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