The Crossing - 2

 Dear Friends,

We have now been on the Queen Mary 2 for a few days and are settling in to a routine.  The ship is huge so exploring is a never ending possibility.  We took a behind the scenes tour the other day.  It was three hours long, and we visited many spaces normally not available to guests.  There were many highlights.  Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take photos.

I was the navigator on an ammunition ship rearming ships ranging from destroyers to aircraft carriers off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam war.  In addition to my navigator duties and standing watches as the officer of the deck, I was in charge of conning (directing) the ship (speed, direction, etc.) during rearming.  We would stream alongside at 12 knots with pulley system that carried pallets of bombs across the gap between us. So, I was particularly interested in the bridge (the place from which the ship is operated).  There are many differences between now (a modern up-to-date ocean liner) and then (an old Navy ammunition ship).  It is amazing the advances in the last 50+ years.

In my day, we had a helm where one of the quartermasters (they were the enlisted men who worked for the navigator) would steer the ship in accordance with the orders given by the officer of the deck.  Now they have a guy sitting in what looks like a large chair that computer gamers use who uses a joy stick or touches some buttons.  

Of course the navigation is all electronic - touch a button and you know where you are.  I used to locate us by measuring the angle to stars in the morning and evening as well as the angle of sun local noon and use dead reckoning in between.  All the calculations were done manually based on a several volume set of tables.  

As for maneuvering the ship.  We had one engine and one rudder.  The Queen Mary 2 has no rudder but does have four propellers aft that can swivel 360 degrees as well as bow thrusters.  Despite its size, they can actually move it sideways, and they have glass floors so they can see down to the water at the side of the ship.  It was all quite impressive.  

Another highlight was the medical facility which is staffed by 9 caregivers including two doctors.  They do not do surgery but can do virtually anything else.  We are currently out of helicopter range, but I feel very confident that I would be well cared for if something happened.

The engineering facilities control the engines and everything else.  The entire ship is run by electricity created by the steam turbines with the steam being created by burning diesel fuels of different grades depending on local regulations.  Extra heat from other operations is also used to help produce steam.  They make water by desalination as well as recovery of used water on board.  There are around 4,000 people on board so it is a town.

In the old days, the bridge would call down to the engine room to tell them how fast to go, etc.  Now the bridge just pushes a button and the engines respond without any further human interaction.  The engineering space can do it, if the bridge's method doesn't work and the engine room can do it if both of those systems fail.  Once again, I was left feeling very comfortable that these guys know what they are doing.

The Queen Mary 2 has a couple of anchors and an incredible amount of really big chain.  They are all controlled by giant winches as are the mooring lines which are also huge.  The mooring lines are made of a new man made material that is very strong and does not stretch.  Historically hemp and polyethylene lines would stretch which meant if they broke all hell broke loose and crew members would get hurt badly.  We were told that if these new lines break they make a loud noise but don't snap around all over the place.

Needless to say the kitchens and storage areas are huge.  Imagine feeding 4,000 people for at least a week.  The Queen Mary 2 mainly provisions in Southampton, its homeport.  So some things are kept frozen on board for many weeks.  It is another very impressive operation.  The food will be the discussion for its own post.

It was quite a tour, and at the end we got a glass of champagne and some beautiful snacks.

There are so many things to do on the ship that you cannot even think of doing all of them.  In truth you would not want to do some of them, and not all of them are exactly as advertised.  Here is a photo of the program of events for one day.

The Queen Mary 2 has the largest onboard library at sea today.  There are also very nice places to sit, read, etc.  As I pursued the shelves the first book that caught my eye was about the Titanic.

Wandering around the ship is a great pastime.  There is a giant atrium with beautiful fresh flowers.

We got our own concierge.  There were always some fresh fruit, small sandwiches, treats, coffee and tea in addition to the very helpful concierge.

There are two gala evenings when everybody is asked to get all dressed up.  One was a black and white theme and the other was a masquerade ball.  Here are some pictures of our group from the black and white gala.

And some from the masquerade gala.

Of course, there can be outside activities as well.  Given that once we left New York it has been cool, high in the 50s to low 60s, and windy, a combination of actual wind and the wind because we are moving at 24-26 knots.  So far none of us has gone swimming, but who knows a we approach England the temperature will rise.  Also except for the first 1.5 days it has been some combination of cloudy and foggy with occasional rain.  For the adventuresome, there is an exterior elevator.

Our main activity is walking around the deck.  Three laps is a mile so it is rather boring, particularly for those of us who walk because we are supposed to and need to do something about the number of calories we are consuming daily.  In the picture you can see the fog and the calm seas, but you can't hear the fog horn going off every couple of minutes.

Today the actual wind was low and was partially offsetting the wind caused by the movement of the ship so there was not much relative wind.  Consequently, the crew put the cushions on the deck chairs, but few people were taking advantage of them.

There have been reports of whale sightings, but all I have seen was a big container ship.  The picture was from a couple of days ago when the fog was not so dense.

I will write one more post about the Queen Mary 2 focused on the food which is incredible, but that is for another day.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

The Crossing - 1

 Dear Friends,

We are taking a break from real life to fulfill a bucket list item as we approach our 80th birthdays.  We are crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, the only remaining ocean liner purpose built to cross the Atlantic.  We will go from New York to Southampton.  It takes 7 days.  We will then go by EuroStar to Paris for a few days before returning home by air.

On Tuesday, we flew from Minneapolis to New York. 

 

Upon landing in New York we went to our hotel in Brooklyn. Then had a nice dinner with relatives.  On Wednesday morning we took a Lyft to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal to begin the embarkation process.

Fortunately, we had priority boarding so it was not very crowded when we arrived.  The process was quite easy and fast.

Before we knew it, we were actually boarding the Queen Mary 2.

Upon boarding, we stepped back in time.  

Our room was much larger than I had imagined, and it was well stocked for a welcome party.

After a glass of champagne with our friends with whom we are traveling, we had some lunch.  As we approached 4:00 pm, we headed outside where it was a beautiful day.  We could watch all the activity on the river as well as the various sites along the way.  Here are the others in our group.

Our berth was right across the river from Governors Island.

Beyond Governors Island is Ellis Island.

There were many great views of lower Manhattan.

We could look back at the Brooklyn Bridge.

Or forward to the Verrazzano Bridge,

Of course, the Statue of Liberty was a real highlight.  

Once underway, as we approached the Verrazzano Bridge, we could see more activity.  This ferry wanted a closer look.

If we had taken a straight line to the Verrazzano Bridge, these two anchored ships would have been run over.

It is not everybody that gets a bon voyage sendoff from a rainbow.

Once out under the bridge, we went to the bow.  

And the stern

But even before we were completely out of the sight of land, who knew there would be an oil rig.

Before long all we could see was ocean.  As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

That is all for today.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Project 2029 - 6 Childcare

 Dear Friends, 

The cost of childcare and early childhood education is a major concern for American working families. The cost to the family for pre-kindergarten childcare in the United States is dramatically higher than in other developed countries.  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published a study of full-time center-based care for singe and couple households with two children aged 2 and 3 where the household makes 67% of the average wage.  

According to that study the net cost to the parent(s) for such childcare in the United States is between 20% and 32% of the average wage.  At the other end of the spectrum is Canada where the net cost to the parent(s) is between -2% and 11%.  The OECD average is between 6% and 10%.  By comparison, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that childcare is affordable if it costs no more than 7% of a family’s income, which means that in the US we are paying 3 to 5 times what DHS says is affordable.

 

World Data recently published a report entitled: “US Childcare Cost Statistics 2026 | Prices, States & Facts” 

In that report it summarizes the status of US childcare as follows:

 

These facts collectively paint a picture of a childcare system in the United States that is failing on every dimension at once: too expensive for families, too underpaid for workers, and too scarce in the communities that need it most. The gap between the HHS 7% affordability benchmark and the 20%+ that families actually spend is not a small discrepancy — it represents a systemic market failure that policymakers have discussed for decades but never meaningfully resolved. What is particularly striking in the 2026 data is how the crisis has crossed an emotional and behavioral threshold: families are now reporting that childcare costs are directly shaping decisions about whether to have children at all, not merely how many to have. With nearly half of all U.S. census tracts qualifying as childcare deserts and the workforce paid wages in the bottom 5% of all U.S. occupations, supply and demand are both broken — and they are broken together.

 

We in the United States have made a policy choice to permit a failed early childhood education and care program to exist in the richest country in the world.  Generally, early childhood education and care (ECEC), is defined as the development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs by persons outside the family from birth to the age of about 8 years.  The US spends less than 0.5% of GDP on ECEC.  The EU and the OECD recommend spending 1.0%, more than twice what the US spends. Iceland, France and the Nordic countries spend at least 1.0%.  See here and here.

There many, many reasons to prioritize ECEC.  A 2025 OECD report entitled, “Why G20 countries should prioritise quality early childhood education” summarizes those reasons as follows:

 

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) lays the foundation for lifelong learning. Children who attend well-designed early learning programmes are more likely to succeed in school, reach higher levels of education and find rewarding employment. ECEC also offers a unique window to develop key capabilities such as curiosity, empathy, creativity and other social and emotional skills. These are essential in the 21st century and often evolve into lasting personality traits…

The benefits of high-quality ECEC extend well beyond the individual. More educated populations are associated with stronger workforces, greater innovation and improved social cohesion. High-quality ECEC also supports broader labour market participation by enabling parents to work, contributing to a larger workforce and reducing the risk of children living in poverty. It strengthens children’s readiness for school and boosts labour market outcomes – thus having the potential to contribute to a fairer society. In short, ECEC is an investment that produces huge social and economic dividends.

 

While the US does provide public K-12 education (in some jurisdiction pre-K-12), the quality and the funding are determined by the states and local jurisdictions.  Less than 10% of the funding comes from the federal government.  

 

All American working families and their children deserve high-quality free childcare and education from birth through high school.  Clearly, one of the policies that the Democrats must include in their Project 2029 is to dramatically increase the government subsidies for early childhood education and care and K-12 education to achieve the goal of free high-quality childcare from birth to pre-K and free high-quality education from pre-K through high school. 

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Our National Disgrace - the mental impact that we inflict on the people who we send into combat.

 Dear Friends,

The media has produced a lot of stories about Graham Platner’s life between the end of his military service (serving three tours of duty with the Marines in Iraq in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and an additional tour of duty with the Army in 2010-2011) and his campaign for the United States Senate. Unfortunately, the media is missing the opportunity to highlight a national disgrace that we don’t talk about enough – the mental impact that we inflict on the people who we send into combat. 

PTSD exists in our society for many reasons, but the rate of PTSD in veterans is higher than the general population and in veterans with combat experience the rates are the highest.  The data is very difficult because of the definitions of PTSD and the subgroups.  For example, I am a Vietnam era Navy veteran, I served quite a bit of time in the area that was classified as the Vietnam “combat zone”, but I was never on land in Vietnam, and I never saw combat.  Obviously, my experience was dramatically different from the experience of a Marine foot soldier in the jungle engaging in firefights. The data does not consistently differentiate between vets who have been deployed to a combat zone, those that have not been so deployed and vets who were in combat, killing people and watching their comrades being killed and maimed.

Keeping the difficulty with the data in mind, it generally indicates that roughly 15% to 20% of Vietnam era vets suffered from PTSD and that even 40 years later 4% continue to suffer from war related PTSD.  In Iraq and Afghanistan roughly15% to 30% of deployed vets suffered from PTSD. The studies demonstrate that combat exposure greatly increases the chance of suffering from PTSD. Substance abuse, suicide and divorce rates are also elevated for veterans and even more for veterans who have experienced PTSD.  In addition, rates for everything are elevated even more if the person we send into combat is younger.

Graham Platner is just one of many vets who have suffered significantly from what we have done to them. He did what we asked him to do – serve four combat tours of duty which nobody should be asked to do. He returned from those battles to face his new challenges of PTSD, substance abuse and relationship difficulties all in part because of what we asked him to do.  After a very dark period in his life, he acknowledged his difficulties, took responsibility for his actions and sought and received help from the government and the people around him.  He has worked hard to improve his life on his road to redemption.  

There are many victims in these scenarios – the people we sent to war as well as their families, friends and others close to them who suffered from their conditions and behavior, but we, the ones who sent them to war, are the villain.  Graham Platner and all our vets deserve our respect, support and forgiveness.  We owe him and all vets the grace to continue their work to become the wonderful people they might have been if we had not damaged their mental health.  

The media should bring this national disgrace into public view so that we can do several things. 

·          We need to understand what we are doing when we send our young people to war and to stop glorifying war and hypermasculinity. 

·          We need to be sure that violence is only used when it is the only available option to achieve a required result.  In my almost 80 years, we have consistently gone to war where other options were available. 

·          We need to fund the VA with the same generosity as we fund the military and our wars.  

·          We need to destigmatize the mental health problems that we inflict on our veterans.    

Thank you for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal                                

Project 2029 - 5 Healthcare

Dear Friends,

 

One of the things that is of most concern to working people is the cost and accessibility of healthcare in the US.  Adopting a healthcare system with free universal coverage would make the lives of working people much more financially secure and remove a major daily worry.  Unfortunately, even though the American healthcare system is a complete disaster, politicians, egged on by lobbyists and corporate contributions, are unwilling to adopt a better system.  How is that in the world’s richest country, we pay the most per capita of any of the other industrialized nations for healthcare, and yet we have some of the worst outcomes?  Rich people in the United States can, of course, get some of the best healthcare in the world, but our system rations healthcare by ability to pay.

 

The Commonwealth Fund is a well-known and often cited private foundation.  According to its website, https://www.commonwealthfund.org/about-us?utm_source=chatgpt.com its mission is

 

to promote a high-performing, equitable health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable, including people of color, people with low income, and those who are uninsured. 

 

The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. An international program in health policy is designed to stimulate innovative policies and practices in the United States and other industrialized countries. 

 

A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund entitled, “U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2026” demonstrates how expensive our healthcare system is, how poor our outcomes are and how inequitable it is.  https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2026/may/us-health-care-global-perspective-2026 The study compares our healthcare system with those of the other members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).  https://www.oecd.org/en.html There are 38 highly industrialized countries in the OECD . 

 

Today, I will review data from the Commonwealth Fund study in more detail to demonstrate how the US healthcare system is broken.  I will explore several topics – universal coverage, life expectancy at birth, avoidable deaths, cost of care, care delivery, years of lost life and a flagrant example of inequality - infant mortality for black women. 

 

Universal Coverage

 

Of the 38 members of the OECD only the US and Mexico do not have universal healthcare coverage.  Mexico is on track to provide universal coverage for all in 2027.  The United States will substantially increase the number of uninsured people in 2027. https://www.kff.org/quick-insights/about-17-million-more-people-could-be-uninsured-due-to-the-big-beautiful-bill-and-other-policy-changes/  By 2027 the US will be the sole member of the OECD to lack universal healthcare coverage and will be falling further from the goal of universal coverage.

 

Life Expectancy at Birth

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

 

Americans lead among the shortest lives of those in OECD countries included in this study. U.S. life expectancy reached its peak of 79 years in 2024 — two years below the OECD average and third-lowest among all OECD countries, after Mexico (75.5 years) and Türkiye (77.3 years).

 

Average life expectancy in 2023 for non-Hispanic Black Americans (74 years) and non-Hispanic American Indians or Alaska Natives (70.1 years) is four and eight years lower, respectively, than it is for non-Hispanic white Americans (78.4 years). Meanwhile, life expectancy for Hispanics (81.3 years) is higher than it is for whites. 

 

Avoidable Deaths

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

Avoidable mortality refers to deaths that are preventable and treatable. Preventable deaths are those that can be avoided through effective public health measures and through “primary prevention,” such as a nutritional diet and exercise. Treatable deaths can be avoided through timely and effective health care interventions, including regular exams, screenings, and treatment.

Until the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of avoidable mortality was on the decline in most countries. In the U.S., however, the rate had been increasing before the pandemic and then spiked in 2021. Since that time, the U.S. avoidable mortality rate has dropped. Still, it remains above the prepandemic level and is currently second-highest among OECD countries included in this analysis, after Mexico.

 

Cost of Care

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

 

In each country, health care spending growth has outpaced economic growth over the past four decades. New and often costly medical technologies, rising prices, and higher demand for services are all contributing to this growth.

 

During this time, the U.S. has spent more on health care than any other nation, and 2024 was no exception. The U.S. devoted 18 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to health-related spending, nearly twice as much as the average OECD country.

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

 

Per capita health spending in the U.S. was 1.5 times as much as the next-highest-spending country, Switzerland, and 10 times higher than Mexico.

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

 

U.S. patients incur higher out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs compared to patients in other countries. Americans spend more than $400 on average each year, compared with less than $100 in France.

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

Although all the countries we studied, except the U.S. and Mexico, provide universal health coverage, patients’ out-of-pocket costs for health services vary widely depending on health needs, geographic location, and income. In many cases, these costs make essential services unaffordable. 

In the U.S., where approximately 8 percent of the population is uninsured and one-quarter has coverage that comes with high out-of-pocket costs or deductibles, people are far more likely to forgo needed care because of costs than people in peer countries. This can mean not filling prescriptions, not obtaining diagnostic tests, treatment, or follow-up care, or being unable to adhere to clinician-recommended care plans.

 

Care Delivery

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows;

 

The U.S. has the highest medical tuition fees of any country in our analysis. This high cost, coupled with limited residency training positions, has produced one of the lowest ratios of medical school graduates, 8.6 for every 100,000 people. This is far lower than the OECD average of nearly 15 graduates per 100,000 people, and well below Denmark’s leading rate of 21 per 100,000.

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

 

With not enough medical graduates, inadequate primary care funding, and a growing problem of physician burnout, the U.S. has the fewest primary care physicians per capita. Without significant action, the shortage of primary care providers is expected to worsen in the years ahead.

 

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

 

The number of hospital beds is an indicator of a health system’s capacity to manage inpatient care.  In the U.S., the total number of hospital beds for every 1,000 people — three — is lower than the OECD average of 4.3. At the other end, Japan and Korea have 13 beds per 1,000 people, which may be an indication of unnecessary health care utilization and overtreatment.

 

Years of Lost Life

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

Years of potential life lost (YPLL) is a measure that public health experts use to estimate premature deaths in a population. It’s the average number of years a person would likely have lived had they not died prematurely and instead had lived until age 75. For example, dying from a preventable cause at age 30 is akin to losing 45 years of potential life, while at age 70 it’s akin to losing five years.

A higher YPLL indicates a greater prevalence of early deaths, particularly among younger populations. The United States has one of the highest YPLL rates, driven largely by preventable causes such as drug overdoses, gun violence, and obesity — conditions that disproportionately affect younger people. In Switzerland, which has the lowest YPLL rate, most avoidable deaths are due to cardiovascular disease, which primarily affects older adults. Because these deaths occur later in life, they contribute fewer years of potential life lost compared to deaths at younger ages. 

 

An Example of Flagrant Inequality – Black Women in the US have the Highest Maternal Death Rate in the OECD 

 

The Commonwealth Fund summarizes the above data as follows:

Compared to countries included in this analysis, the U.S. has long had among the highest rates of maternal deaths related to complications of pregnancy and childbirth. In 2023, there were nearly 19 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the U.S., a decline from previous years. By contrast, in 11 of the 18 countries we studied there were less than five maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. A high rate of cesarean section, inadequate prenatal care, and socioeconomic inequalities contributing to chronic illnesses like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease may help explain high U.S. maternal mortality. 

For Black women in the U.S., maternal mortality is exceptionally high: 50 deaths per 100,000 live births. This far exceeds national maternal mortality in any of the other countries. Inequities in access to care and patients’ care experiences — often rooted in discrimination and clinician bias — may be prime contributing factors.

 

How to Fix the US Healthcare System

 

Since the US healthcare system, the world’s most expensive healthcare system, produces some of the worst outcomes, we certainly should be able to find a better system.  After looking at the data from the Commonwealth Fund, I decided to look closer at the German and French healthcare systems to find a model that we might use.  Of course, no system is perfect, but it would be impossible to find one worse than that of the US.

 

The German and French healthcare systems are broadly similar. Both provide universal coverage.  In Germany all must have either the statutory health insurance or a substitute private health insurance.  89% have the statutory health insurance and all but 0.1% of people have coverage.  In France the statutory insurance covers everybody and about 95% of the people have complimentary insurance.  In both countries the system is paid for primarily with public funds and the care is provided by a mix private providers and state employed providers as well as public and private hospitals.  For more information and the French healthcare system see https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications/m/france-country-health-profile-2023 and for the German healthcare system see https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications/m/germany-country-health-profile-2025 

 

I summarized some of the data in the Commonwealth Fund to compare the US, French and German systems.

	US	France	Germany
Cost per capita	$12,649	$6,113	$7,553
Cost of pharmaceuticals per capita	$462	$92	$171
Life expectancy at birth in years	79	81.1	81.2
Avoidable deaths per 100,000 population	312	162	195
Primary care physicians per 1,000 population	0.3	1.4	1.1
Hospital beds per 1,000 population	2.8	5.4	7.7
Years of lost life per 100,000 population	7,384	4,125	4,041
Maternal mortality per 100,000 births*	19	7.3	4

*From a different report from the Commonwealth Fund which permits comparison of healthcare systems of different countries. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-center/country-comparison-tool

 

My conclusion is that the US should use the German and French healthcare systems as models for designing a new healthcare system that actually helps all the people and that has a cost commensurate with the outcomes.

 

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal