Whither Obamacare?

[garbon]

"Czechia", Lancet? Really?

What's wrong with Czechia? That's what they want to go by these days.

I think I read somewhere recently that they decided to give up on that, due to the potential confusion with Chechnia.

That's cool.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/francistapon/2017/05/22/czechia-has-won-the-czech-republic-name-debate/#2cce6a577d66

Czechia Has Won The Czech Republic Name Debate

Quick: Paris is the capital of which country?

You probably said, "France."

However, technically, it's "the French Republic." But who says that? Only a petulant Frenchman.

Now try this: what's the name of the country that drinks more beer per capita than any other country?

If you're feeling petulant, it's the Czech Republic. If you want to be cool, it's Czechia.

Peruse the CIA's Factbook and you'll find that most countries have a long form name and a short form name. The People's Republic of China is the long form name, while China is its short form name. The United States of America is also a mouthful, which is why there are popular alternatives: America (which many Latin Americans object to), the USA, the US, the States or Gringoland.

For the last 100 years, the Czechs have been unable to come up with an easy name for English speakers to call their country. In 1921, when they first formed their country, the Czechs called their country Czechoslovakia. That tongue-twister was ridiculed by National Geographic, which called the new country's name "awful" and an "unfair handicap for the young state."

In 1993, following Slovakia's Velvet Divorce with Czechoslovakia, the Czech bureaucrats once again failed to promote a catchy English name for their new country. The Czech Republic is all they could come up with. It became both the long form and short form name of their new country. Why couldn't they come up with a short-form name? They were obviously too busy doing more important activities, like drinking their legendary beer.

You can't fault the Czechs for being unable to realize that what their nation's name is a mouthful for English speakers. These are the same guys who have phrases like "Prd krt skrz drn, zprv zhlt hrst zrn."

I asked a Czech how you're supposed to say that, he said, in complete seriousness, "Just like it's written."

After I tried and comically failed, I asked him what it meant. He said, "A mole farted through grass, having swallowed a handful of grains."

Suddenly, calling their country "the Czech Republic" didn't feel so cumbersome anymore.

The Czech Republic was one of the few countries that insisted on having a definite article in front of their country's name: the Netherlands and the Gambia also annoyingly demand that. Sensing the frustration of English speakers who have to say "the Netherlands," the Dutch offer the informal "Holland" alternative.

It's a bit easier to say, "I'm going to Holland," instead of, "I'm going to the Netherlands." It sounds weird to say, "I'm going to Netherlands."

Strangely, it doesn't sound weird to say, "I'm going to Gambia." Perhaps the Netherlands has been simply better than Gambia at demanding that we put a definite article before their name. Insisting on saying the Gambia implies that there are many Gambias. "Hey buddy, I'm not going to just any Gambia, I'm going to the Gambia."

In an effort to improve the linguistic lives of all English speakers, the Czech Republic registered its short form name, Czechia, on July 5, 2016. How's it catching on nearly a year later?

On the one hand, there's been little change. Some official Czech government websites still refer to "the Czech Republic." Because they're official government sites, it's not that surprising that they use the formal name, just like the United States government websites often spell out the long-form name of the USA.

A few months after Czechia was officially registered in the United Nations databases and Czech leaders started to encourage English-speaking governments to use it, some quickly declared that Czechia was dead on arrival. Part of the "proof" that Czechia wasn't catching on was an unscientific survey of people in Prague's Wenceslas Square. However, most Prague pedestrians aren't native English speakers. Although some must have passionate opinions on the matter (and they'll surely comment on this article), most Czechs probably don't care that much what English speakers call their country, as long as we don't come up with an insulting name. The Czechs call their country Česko.

Imagine asking New Yorkers what they think of Les États-Unis? Most New Yorkers aren't fluent French speakers and are way too busy to worry about what the baguette eaters call their country.

Consider the Finns. Nearly every language calls their country something that sounds like "Finland." But what do the Finns call their own country? Suomi.

Albanians do the same thing. Almost everyone calls their country something that sounds like "Albania." Meanwhile, Albanians call their own land Shqipëria.

Neither the Finns nor the Albanians are trying to change what the world calls their country nor do they seem that concerned about what people call their motherland.

The Czechs, on the other hand, want to make life easier for English speakers, which is why they're encouraging us to say Czechia.

It takes years for new names to catch on. As anyone who has changed their name knows, getting your friends to adopt it is difficult. Ten years ago, my wife changed her name from Binta to Rejoice. Her old friends and family still call her Binta.

Similarly, when Burma became Myanmar, Leningrad became St. Petersburg and Peking became Beijing, the world took years to adapt.

It would have saved cartographers and the rest of us English speakers plenty of trouble if China had just called their capital Beijing from the beginning. For whatever reason, they asked English speakers to start calling their big city Beijing. We complied.

Czechia is an old name. The name Czechia first appeared in Latin about 400 years ago. The first English text to mention it was in 1841.

Czechia's party poopers say that it's a lousy name because it sounds like Chechnya. However, it's hard to avoid naming confusion. When I was writing my book about Eastern Europe, I discovered that most people confuse Slovakia and Slovenia (it doesn't help that their flags are similar too). The poor folks who live in Seattle must spend their lives clarifying that they live in Washington state, not Washington, DC. And what were the people in Paris, Kansas thinking when they came up with their city's name? Compared to these cases, Czechia is clear as a watered-downed ale.

Also, Czechia doesn't ignite a vicious name debate like the one regarding Macedonia. The Greeks stir like a Poseidon-powered tidal wave whenever they hear the northern neighbor call themselves Macedonia. Chechnya has yet to declare war on Czechia.

Speaking of war, it appears that Czechia has won the war against the Czech Republic . The October 2016 reports of Czechia's death recall a famous quotation:

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. - Mark Twain

More and more people are using the word Czechia. The CIA World Factbook uses Czechia. Similarly, the US State Department refers to Czechia. In addition, Google Maps now uses Czechia. As usual, the British are slower to change than the Americans: the UK government still clings to the long-form name. No wonder the Yanks wanted independence.

Had you Googled "Czechia" in February 2016, you would have gotten 460,000 hits. Today, you'll get 12.5 million hits.

Instagram had 10,000 #Czechia mentions in 2015, but now it's over 80,000. In 2015, Twitter and Pinterest had negligible hits when you searched for #Czechia. In 2017, Twitter (56,000 hits) and Pinterest (134,000 hits) have seen a surge of #Czechia usage.

Czechia is encouraging English speakers to use its new short-form name. Try it out next time you fly to Europe's two most beautiful cities: Prague, Czechia, and Paris, the French Republic.

[HVC]

For the last 100 years, the Czechs have been unable to come up with an easy name for English speakers to call their country. In 1921, when they first formed their country, the Czechs called their country Czechoslovakia. That tongue-twister was ridiculed by National Geographic, which called the new country's name "awful" and an "unfair handicap for the young state

I always liked Czechoslovakia. it's fun to say, and I still use it once in a blue moon by mistake.

[celedhring]

You know, this article has made me think that we should ask everybody to call us "The Kingdom of Spain" which is way awesome-er than just "Spain".

[Barrister]

I still rue the day we gave up on the name Dominion of Canada.

[jimmy olsen]

McConnell has pulled the GOP health care bill, will seek repeal.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/two-more-health-care-defections-dooms-current-gop-bill-n783926

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Monday night that he lacked the votes to pass the Senate health care bill after two more Republican senators came out against it, leaving the party short of a majority.

Instead, he said the Senate would vote on a full repeal of Obamacare, with two years before the repeal goes into effect to allow time to create a new system. The new plan may appear to fulfill a seven-year GOP promise, but it faces extremely difficult odds after many moderate Republican senators have already come out against repeal without an immediate replacement

[celedhring]

It pleases me that the GOP is also able to shoot itself in the foot in the pursuit of ideological purity (re the conservative senators who deem the new bill not conservative enough).

[garbon]

Apparently the Senate leadership had already wanted just a repeal only bill but tabled that because it didn't have the votes. Now they are trying to reuse the same bad idea?

[Fate]

Agreed garbon, what is the point of a full repeal bill? This will never reach the Senate floor unless McConnell is willing to jettison the legislative filibuster. Even then, I don't see people like Collins jumping on the bandwagon, John McCain is out of comission for a few weeks, and there is probably at least 1 more moderate who fears what will happen once the tables turn and Dems have a majority without the filibuster blocking their efforts.

If they did that in 2009 we'd have Medicare buy-in available to people in their 50s and there'd be a public option for everyone in the exchanges. But instead they had to keep people like Joe Lieberman in the fold so we got the ACA.

[garbon]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/07/18/daily-202-after-senate-bill-falls-apart-republicans-don-t-have-the-votes-to-repeal-obamacare/596d301fe9b69b7071abcb63/?utm_term=.ed4cd6d147cb

Sean Sullivan explains that the wily Kentuckian's announcement amounts to a dare: "McConnell practically challenged conservative critics of the bill to vote against moving the process ahead. ... If hard-right conservative senators vote no on proceeding with the bill and it collapses, McConnell can come back at them and say, 'Well, you had your chance at the 'clean repeal' you demanded. And you decided not to take it.' He will have shifted some of the blame onto others and given himself a new talking point to counter the 'clean repeal' crowd — which includes President Trump. If they vote yes — hey, they're suddenly back on track, at the table debating legislation with at least some chance of passing."

What's less clear at this point is McConnell's end game. "If this doesn't work out," Sean wonders, "will he move on to other matters? Follow through on his threats to work with Democrats and narrower reforms, which were seen as ways to try to pressure conservatives not to let this fail? ... There are no longer any good outcomes for McConnell — politically speaking. There are bad ones and less bad ones. And putting the onus on other senators means there will be more blame to go around when this all ends."

[Syt]

Donald J. Trump‏
@realDonaldTrump

We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!

[Grey Fox]

"We"

However, from his point of view, that's kind of true.

[Kleves]

It is sad that bipartisanship has become the nuclear option in politics.

[garbon]

Trump's latest is that Republicans should now just wait for Obamacare to fail, then Dems will come begging for help.

[CountDeMoney]

Bring it, motherfuckers.  You want me dead, you're going to have to man up and work for it.  Punk ass bitches.

[jimmy olsen]