Recent posts on “In Search of Enlightenment” include:

(1) What Justice Requires, “Many-Things-Considered”

(2) The Personal is Political, Part 2

(3) Political “Philosophy”

(4) Egalitarianism, Education Attainment and Marriage

(5) Sen Talk

Cheers,
Colin

A more comprehensive entry will follow later — after the actual Main Event takes place — but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to engage in my first round of live blogging at the Future Salon Science and Ethics of Longevity Research presentation.

Much thanks to SAP in Palo Alto for hosting. It is nice to see so many people interested in longevity, regardless of what side they come out on. Certainly, a debate between Aubrey deGrey and William Hurlburt is a tremendous opportunity for anyone wanting to learn more about the various ethical topics associated with life extension. I look forward to seeing how the presentation goes.

EDIT: I will write a separate, more comprehensive entry tomorrow once I’ve gotten some sleep, but I did want to say that the presentation, while it seemed a bit rushed at times, was indeed well worth attending. I would also like to apologize to anyone who I might have managed to annoy with my Random Saying of Stuff that happened near the end of Mr. Hurlburt’s talk. It’s just very difficult to not at least engage in vigorous squirming when the person at the front of the room is commenting on the “unmanliness” of life extension (not a man here, so does that mean I’m excused?).

This piece in the NY Times reports the encouraging news that the US Senate Finance Committee has approved a major expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Here is a sample:

Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the Senate Finance Committee approved a major expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Thursday, with a majority of Republicans joining all Democrats on the panel in supporting the legislation.

The vote, 17 to 4, sends the measure to the full Senate, which is expected to take it up within two weeks

Mr. Bush has repeatedly denounced the bill as a step toward “government-run health care for every American,” describing it as a “massive expansion of the federal role” in health care, financed by “a huge tax increase.”

….The bill calls for a total of $60 billion in spending over the next five years, which is $35 billion more than it would cost to continue spending at current levels. In the House, Democratic leaders are developing a proposal calling for a total of $75 billion. By contrast, President Bush has proposed a $5 billion increase, for a total of $30 billion.

….To finance expansion of the program, the Senate bill would increase tobacco taxes. The federal excise tax on cigarettes would rise to $1 a pack, from 39 cents.

The bill would also roll back waivers granted by the Bush administration that have allowed some states to cover childless adults with money from the program.

Cheers,
Colin