Newsweek Feb. 2, 2005: "The day America Died"

[Lance]

http://ridingsun.blogspot.com/2005/05/newsweek-america-is-dead.html

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/larryelder/2005/06/02/15609.html

 

Does anybody know if these claims are true?

[Pangloss]

Which claims do you mean? Please be specific, thanks.

[Lance]

The claim that the Asian version of Newsweek on Feb. 2, 2005 translates to "the day that America died" with the background of a broken flag in a trash can.

 

It seems too outrageous and disgusting for me to believe outright and it is rather hard to find a reliable source so I thought it might be a photoshopped hoax.

 

I think I will be canceling my subscription, regardless of whether this specific event is a hoax because of some of Newsweek's other recent incidents.

[Pangloss]

Oh I see. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you on that. Hopefully someone else can chime in here.

 

I'd be a little surprised if it's true. I've read a number of Fareed Zakaria columns, and seen him many times on ABC's "This Week", and I don't think his position is that bad.

[Tetrahedrite]

It seems too outrageous and disgusting for me to believe outright and it is rather hard to find a reliable source so I thought it might be a photoshopped hoax.

Over-reactions like this stemming from the abundance of misplaced patrioitism in the USA are a potential reason why the US edition had a different story/picture.

 

 

On an issue related to the article:

The Newsweek affair and the AP story serve as a window into how many in mainstream media view our country. They celebrate the welfare state' date=' [b']consider health care a right[/b], while downplaying the worldwide threat posed by extremist Islam.

Some right wing people really disgust me. The author of this article is having a go at people who consider health care a right, as though we are some sort of sick commie degenerates. In most other countries in the developed world, health care is considered important enough to be provided equally to all citizens, not just those who can afford it. It is the USA which is dysfunctional, not the rest of the world!!

[Pangloss]

We should just shut up and take our licks?

 

Funny, nobody else seems to enjoy being told they're wrong all the time either. But Americans are supposed to just accept it. I don't get that, but hey, whatever floats yer boat.

[bascule]

It is the USA which is dysfunctional, not the rest of the world!!

 

Believe it or not there are many US Democrats who are vocal advocates of Universal Single-Payer Healthcare, most notably the recent presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich has been almost abrasive on the issue. Throughout the campaign DNC chairman Howard Dean and Al Sharpton both said they supported it, although had different plans on implementing it than Kucinich, or at least Dean did, he wanted to model it after Vermont's system (the same way it got started in Canada, a provincial plan which was ramped up to a nationwide scale) I'm not sure Sharpton really has a clue on the matter, but he certainly voiced his support.

 

However when during the final debates before the DNC nomination Kucinich (being the last of the candidates remaining in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination) asked Kerry and Edwards if they would join him in supporting Universal Single-Payer Healthcare, they both remained dead silent. Moderator Larry King shouted out "Socialism!" and well, that was the end of the issue. You see that's still kind of a bad word over here for some reason, I guess a long lasting aftereffect of McCarthyism.

 

It's sad to see the American healthcare system ranking so poorly in WHO polls, and the lack of a single-payer system has created tiers of bureaucracy to manage financing the goddamn thing, not to mention whole companies who specialize in brokering out access to multiple insurance companies for doctors offices by charging a hefty access fee to centralize the multi-payer system. This does bring the advantage of providing more extensive coverage for particular insurance companies, but the solution comes at a price. In a single payer system, of course, there is no middleman because everybody goes straight to the one and only source.

 

It's really nasty over here, but most people seem content with the system as it is today and like to dilude themselves with the mistaken impression that America has the best healthcare system in the world, so why change it?

 

I guess it will take more outsourcing and higher unemployment before people start to realize that a major part of the reason overseas workers are so cheaper is because healthcare is provided by the state and consequently they don't have to offer health benefits along with a job. Once it starts hitting home like that, people will demand Universal Single-Payer Healthcare so America can remain competitive in the international marketplace.

[In My Memory]

http://ridingsun.blogspot.com/2005/05/newsweek-america-is-dead.html

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/larryelder/2005/06/02/15609.html

 

Does anybody know if these claims are true?

A quick search at the Newsweek website comes up with nothing.

 

So far, I've only seen the story circulate among very conservative blogs who believe in the omnipotent presence of a "liberal media", I think the story might be an urban legend. Try contacting Snopes.com, maybe they'll reply back.

[Tetrahedrite]

It's sad to see the American healthcare system ranking so poorly in WHO polls' date=' and the lack of a single-payer system has created tiers of bureaucracy to manage financing the goddamn thing, not to mention whole companies who specialize in brokering out access to multiple insurance companies for doctors offices by charging a hefty access fee to centralize the multi-payer system. This does bring the advantage of providing more extensive coverage for particular insurance companies, but the solution comes at a price. In a single payer system, of course, there is no middleman because everybody goes straight to the one and only source.

 

It's really nasty over here, but most people seem content with the system as it is today and like to dilude themselves with the mistaken impression that America has the best healthcare system in the world, so why change it?

[/quote']

This is something I am really passionate about. The government here in Australia is trying Americanise us in every aspect (including industrial relations, foriegn policy, welfare policy, education, superannuation etc etc) but a user pays system for health care is something I sense the community at large will not stand for. Most of us here are proud of our medicare system.

 

In fact I think one of the great marks of a truely civilised and democratic society is a universal free health care system, universal free education, and a reasonable safety net for the poor and disadvantaged. This is something that we are fortunate enough to enjoy in Australia at the present time. THIS IS NOT SOCIALISM OR COMMUNISM. A shift to right wing ideology is threatening this at the moment and one can only hope that the electorate will educate itself a little bit.

[Pangloss]

Well for what it's worth I disagree, but it's a compromise I've been willing to make for some time now. I have rather mixed feelings about it, and it's certainly not that easily separated from socialism, and I also don't believe the vast majority of the hype about "millions without healthcare", but what I'm mostly focused on is what is the most efficient and cost-effective way to get the entire country on good medical care. If that's socialized medicine, then that's what it is.

 

We need to make a decision on this and get it taken care of so we can get back to moving forward (low-cost care, readily accessible, latest technology) instead of backward (increasing costs, decreasing accessibility, technology coming from overseas).

[Tiger's Eye]

The claim that the Asian version of Newsweek on Feb. 2' date=' 2005 translates to "the day that America died" with the background of a broken flag in a trash can.

 

It seems too outrageous and disgusting for me to believe outright and it is rather hard to find a reliable source so I thought it might be a photoshopped hoax.

 

I think I will be canceling my subscription, regardless of whether this specific event is a hoax because of some of Newsweek's other recent incidents.[/quote']

 

Well, that same background was run and used for an English version of Newsweek, also. I don't remember the title, though. I'll have to look for it.

 

It does convery a pretty powerful meaning, but it seems like only the asian print is being criticized, not just for its headline, but also, ironically, for the background accompanying. I say ironic because, again, this background of a dirtied and broken flag was used for an english (in terms of language) edition. As for the title, i'm gonna have to look for it. But i just wanted to point this out in case it was not known already.

 

One of you said that the cover of the American print was different. If that is so, then I must have been reading a European edition. Again, I'll refer to my copy once i find it.

 

L8er!

 

Tiger

[Dak]

We need to make a decision on this and get it taken care of so we can get back to moving forward (low-cost care, readily accessible, latest technology) instead of backward (increasing costs, decreasing accessibility, technology coming from overseas).

 

Just out of curiosity, whats the disadvantage of the technology coming from overseas?

[Pangloss]

Just out of curiosity, whats the disadvantage of the technology coming from overseas?

 

There isn't -- tech is tech. The point was that we're not leading the way in some areas as we used to, sometimes due to moral or ethical considerations that are not entirely shared by other nations. Genetic research would be an example of this. Many of the key recent breakthroughs have come from Korea or other nations instead of the US, because of restrictions on NSF grants WRT stem-cell research, etc.

 

That's not to say that all moral and ethical applications to research are bad. But that is another discussion.

[Gaijin Biker]

Hello, everybody. I'm the person who wrote the post about the Newsweek issue that has been linked here.

 

It is not a hoax. While the http://www.nwj.ne.jp/ link now appears to be broken, I have the actual magazine sitting in my desk drawer here in Tokyo.

 

Proof? You can buy a copy of that issue of Newsweek on the web here:

 

http://www.fujisan.co.jp/Product/5766/b/53550/

 

That link also includes a pic of the cover.

 

--GB

[Lance]

Hello' date=' everybody. I'm the person who wrote the post about the Newsweek issue that has been linked here.

 

It is not a hoax. While the http://www.nwj.ne.jp/ link now appears to be broken, I have the actual magazine sitting in my desk drawer here in Tokyo.

 

Proof? You can buy a copy of that issue of Newsweek on the web here:

 

http://www.fujisan.co.jp/Product/5766/b/53550/

 

That link also includes a pic of the cover.

 

--GB[/quote']

 

Thank you very much, that answers my question.