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//</script><noscript><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=cookie&pos=TopAd"><img src="http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_remote.html?type=noscript&page=blog.nytimes.com/opinionator/post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,Inv3,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=TopAd&query=qstring&keywords=?"></a></noscript></div><div id="opinionator" class="spanAC blog wrap"><div id="aCol"><div id="header" ><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/" title="Go to Opinionator Home"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/opinionator_post.png" alt="Opinionator - A Gathering of Opinion From Around the Web"/></a></div><hr /><div id="content" class="hfeed"><div class="post-114325 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-fixes category-_featured tag-economy tag-freelancing tag-health-care tag-jobs entry " id="entry-114325"><span class="timestamp published" title="2011-12-01T21:15:22+00:00"> <span class="date">December 1, 2011, <em>9:15 pm</em></span></span><h1 class="entry-title">Health Care for a Changing Work Force</h1> <address class="byline author vcard">By <a href="/author/david-bornstein/" class="url fn" title="See all posts by DAVID BORNSTEIN">DAVID BORNSTEIN</a></address><div class="entry-content"><p><webonly><div class="inlineModule"><div class="entry categoryDescriptionModule"><div class="thumb"><img alt="Fixes" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/pogs/fixes45.gif" width="50" height="50"></div><p class="summary"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/">Fixes</a> looks at solutions to social problems and why they work.</p></div><div class="entry entryTagsModule"><h4>Tags:</h4><p class="meta tags"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/freelancing/" rel="tag">freelancing</a>, <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/health-care/" rel="tag">health care</a>, <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/jobs/" rel="tag">jobs</a></p></p></div></p></div><p></webonly><div class="w427"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/12/02/opinion/02fixes-freelancersunion/02fixes-freelancersunion-blog427.jpg" id="100000001202322" width="427" height="309" alt="Sara Horowitz addressed members of the Freelancers Union during a 2009 forum which invited candidates for Public Advocate and Comptroller to discuss the issues affecting independent workers." /><span class="credit">Carolyn Silveira</span><span class="caption">Sara Horowitz, the founder of the Freelancers Union, addressed union members at a 2009 forum on the issues affecting independent workers.</span></div><p>Big institutions are often slow to awaken to major social transformations. Microsoft was famously late to grasp the importance of the Internet. American auto manufacturers were slow to identify the demand for fuel-efficient cars. And today, the United States government is making a similar mistake: it still doesnt seem to recognize that Americans no longer work the way they used to.</p><p>Today, some 42 million people — about a third of the United States work force — do not have jobs in the traditional sense. They fall into a catchall category the government calls <a href="http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-656" target="_blank">“contingent”</a> workers. These people — independent contractors, freelancers, temp workers, part-timers, people between jobs — typically work on a project-to-project basis for a variety of clients, and most are outcasts from the traditional system of benefits that provide economic security to Americans. Even as the economy has changed, employment benefits are still based on an outdated industrial-era model in which workers are expected to stay with a single company for years, if not their whole careers.<span id="more-114325"></span></p><div class="w190 right module"><div class="entry"><blockquote>The industrial-era model of employer-based health care no longer applies.</p></blockquote></div></div><p>For most of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, it was efficient to link benefits to jobs this way. But today, more and more work falls outside the one-to-one, employee-to-employer relationship. Work is decentralized, workers are mobile, and working arrangements are fluid. However, the risks of life havent gone away: people still need protections. They just need a different system to distribute them. They need benefits that they can carry around, like their laptops. As things stand, millions of independent workers go without health and unemployment insurance, protection against discrimination and unpaid wages, and pension plans. It makes no sense.</p><p>One of the social innovators to recognize this problem early and act on it was Sara Horowitz, the founder of the <a href="http://freelancersunion.org/about/index.html">Freelancers Union</a>, which has more than 165,000 members across all 50 states. At Fixes, we highlight practical applications of ideas that have the potential to achieve widespread impact. That means looking at how ideas take root in institutions that become part of the fabric of society.</p><p>In the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, a landscape of new institutions — including the early labor unions and hundreds of civil society organizations like Rotary International, the Boy and Girl Scouts, and the N.A.A.C.P. — reshaped the American landscape. Today, the Freelancers Union offers a glimpse of the kind of social enterprise — mission-driven and pragmatic, market-savvy and cooperative — that is likely to proliferate in the coming years to meet the needs of a fast-changing work force and society.</p><p>Horowitz had been a labor lawyer and union organizer when, in the early 1990s, she recognized that the number of people turning to independent work was on the rise. It was also clear that institutions had not yet been built to represent them in any meaningful way. (On one occasion, Horowitz found herself misclassified by an employer as an independent contractor — and quickly discovered that she received no job benefits.) Horowitz had the idea to create an organization to bring freelancers together so they could wield their power in the marketplace and in the political arena, much like AARP does for retirees.</p><p>She quickly discovered that their biggest concern was the cost of health insurance. But there were other problems, too. Unlike traditional workers who receive unemployment benefits, independent contractors have to rely on their own resources to get through hard times. In 2009, <a href="http://fu-res.org/pdfs/advocacy/2010_Survey_Summary.pdf"> Freelancers Union surveyed 3,000 members</a> and found that more than 80 percent had gone jobless or underemployed during the year. More than 60 percent had used their credit cards or borrowed from friends and family to make ends meet, and 12 percent had to turn to food stamps. Close to 40 percent had given up, or downgraded, their health insurance protection.</p><p>Another problem was getting paid. Some companies, like Time Inc., actually <a href="http://gawker.com/5418425/time-inc-will-pay-you-promptly-if-you-pay-them-for-the-service" target="_blank">charge freelancers</a> penalties if they request payment within 25 days. Freelancers Union found that 77 percent of its members had been cheated by a client during their careers and 40 percent had had trouble getting paid in 2009. The average wage loss was $6,000. The Department of Labor protects traditional workers from unpaid wages, but freelancers have no equivalent recourse. Then there were difficulties obtaining mortgages, the lack of access to 401(k) plans, and other issues.</p><div class="w190 right module"><div class="entry"><blockquote>An insurance provider that stays viable by <em>not</em> seeking to maximize profits.</p></blockquote></div></div><p>Horowitz saw that she could attract a large membership if she could figure out how to provide health insurance at lower cost. Health insurance companies dont have much love for freelancers. They prefer to serve large groups because its easier to deal with one corporate benefits manager than a multitude of individuals. And because insurers often lack reliable information about independent workers, they tend to assume that they are risky. As a result, premiums in the open marketplace for health insurance are higher and more volatile than those for employees. (The Affordable Care Act is designed to address this problem beginning in 2014 by subsidizing private insurance, but it applies only to people with low and moderate incomes.)</p><p>Horowitz got the idea of grouping freelancers in New York State so they could purchase their health insurance together. It made sense in theory, but it had never been done. She worked closely with officials in Albany, notably Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, who was a strong ally, and Gregory Serio, the former superintendent of insurance for New York State, who had the authority to grant approval for “discretionary” insurance groups.</p><p>“A lot of health insurers have looked at individual and sole proprietors as very expensive and risky to underwrite,” explained Serio. “Sara was able to foresee a trend [in the rise of independent work] before a lot of other people did. She went and found out that these people were not bad risks. Her creativity was in using existing concepts of insurance risk sharing and applying it to a community that has been ignored by the marketplace and, in fact, almost vilified by the marketplace.”</p><p>Serio and Horowitz made an interesting team. “I was a conservative Republican from Nassau County working for George Pataki,” he told me. “And she was my liberal friend from Brooklyn.” But Serio found the idea of protecting freelancers appealing because his father had been a dentist who operated out of a second-floor walk-up office on Jamaica Avenue, in Woodhaven, Queens. “I grew up in a sole proprietor household,” he said. “If my father didnt work, he didnt get paid. And I knew what it was like seeing health insurance rates go up and up.”</p><p>Today, the Freelancers Insurance Company (F.I.C.), which is wholly owned by the Freelancers Union (a nonprofit), has revenues of roughly $100 million and covers 25,000 independent workers and their family members in New York State, offering them premiums that the company calculates are more than a third below the open market rate. Close to 60 percent of its clients were previously uninsured or on <a href="http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm" target="_blank">COBRA</a> (a temporary extension of their previous insurance). The renewal rate last year was 97 percent. (Disclosure: I have purchased health insurance from F.I.C. for a number of years.) The company was financed with $17 million in loans and grants from social investors, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the New York City Investment Fund. “Our freelancers have access to the best doctors and hospitals,” says Horowitz. “We have skilled human resource people, just like Fortune 500 companies. Were able to watch out for our members.”</p><p>How can the F.I.C. undercut market rates and still be a viable enterprise? The key is that while it seeks to be profitable, it does not seek to <em>maximize</em> profits. Its executives receive salaries that are below industry averages, and it has only one shareholder (the Freelancers Union) to satisfy. Those are fundamental differences. Silver, who is the speaker of the State Assembly, notes that the success of the F.I.C. makes it more difficult for traditional insurers to contend that they cant deliver insurance at lower cost. “Duplicating the model and showing the ability of [the F.I.C.] to keep costs under control is something that we will be looking at,” he adds.</p><p>Like many social goods, health insurance is often seen through a binary lens: either it must be handled by the government or it must be handled by the free market. But the F.I.C. is demonstrating that a middle way can work, too, and that it may be preferable to provide vital services like insurance through social-benefit companies, at least to certain customer groups. In fact, the Affordable Care Act has a provision to finance a new type of nonprofit health insurance company that would be run by its customers. It would be called a <a href="http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/choices/co-op/index.html" target="_blank">Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP)</a>. The Freelancers Union has proposed to establish CO-OPs in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington.</p><p>Because the F.I.C. has a close connection with freelancers, it can be more effective helping its members make good health care decisions. “Were moving away from fee-for-service medicine to one where a primary care doctor aggressively coordinates care,” explains Horowitz. “Were also trying to innovate with alternative care — promoting meditation, yoga, and nutrition which can have long-term beneficial effects.” In 2012, the organization will be opening up the Brooklyn Freelancers Medical Practice, a health center modeled on the <a href="http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/631/default.aspx" target="_blank">medical-home</a> approach and designed in partnership with a physician named Rushika Fernandopulle, who pioneered a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/24/110124fa_fact_gawande" target="_blank">team-based model of care</a> that is attracting attention across the country.</p><p>For now, the United States government doesnt keep an accurate count of the independent work force. This is an oversight. It appears likely that this way of working will continue to grow. In cities with concentrations of knowledge workers, you find a proliferation of co-working spaces designed specifically for freelancers. And online marketplaces for freelancers like <a href="http://www.etsy.com/" target="_blank">Etsy</a>, oDesk and Elance are expanding rapidly.</p><div class="w190 right module"><div class="entry"><h6 class="kicker">Related</h6><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes">More From Fixes</a></h5><p class="summary">Read previous contributions to this series.</p></div></div><p>Its not just hipsters who work like this. Forty-five percent of Freelancers Union members are over 40 years old. Not all follow this path by choice. Many freelancers are former employees, like journalists, who lost jobs. Recent college graduates, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html" target="_blank">discovering</a> that a degree is far from a job guarantee, are forced to be more entrepreneurial. And many companies, seeking to hold costs down, engage freelancers rather than hire full-time workers. All of these workers deserve the same protections accorded to others.</p><p>“The industrial workers of the 20<sup>th</sup> century helped bring about the New Deal,” says Horowitz. “But the New Deal hasnt evolved to include independent workers. I think this work force will help bring about the <em>next</em> New Deal — a framework of economic security that is parallel in its goals but led by a network of new institutions.”</p><p>“The government cant replace civil society,” she added. “So if the civil society organizations have control, it will be harder to have your benefits taken away — if you happen to lose an election.”</p><p>On Wednesday, Ill report on some of the other ways the Freelancers Union is helping to make independent work more secure. In the meantime, if you are a freelancer, or know someone who works this way, let us know about your experiences.<br /> <em>Join <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Social-Change-New-York-Times/147881585260868">Fixes on Facebook</a> and follow updates on <a href="http://twitter.com/nytimesfixes">twitter.com/nytimesfixes</a>.</em></p><hr /><div class="w75 left"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/10/19/19borenstein75/19borenstein75-thumbStandard.jpg" alt="David Bornstein" /></div><p><em><a href="http://davidbornstein.wordpress.com/">David Bornstein</a> is the author of &#8220;<a href="http://davidbornstein.wordpress.com/books/how-to-change-the-world/">How to Change the World</a>,&#8221; which has been published in 20 languages, and &#8220;<a href="http://davidbornstein.wordpress.com/books/the-price-of-a-dream-the-story-of-the-grameen-bank/">The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank</a>,&#8221; and is co-author of &#8220;<a href="http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Sociology/SocialMovementSocialChange/?ci=9780195396331&amp;view=usa">Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know</a>.&#8221; He is the founder of <a href="http://dowser.org/">dowser.org</a>, a media site that reports on social innovation.</em></p></div></div><div class="entry-meta"><ul class="entry-tools clearfix"><li class="email-this"><form method="post" name="emailThis_114325" id="emailThis_114325" style="display: inline;" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" action="http://www.nytimes.com/mem/emailthis.html"> <input type="hidden" name="type" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="url" value="http%3A%2F%2Fopinionator.blogs.nytimes.com%2F2011%2F12%2F01%2Fhealth-care-for-a-changing-work-force%2F" /> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Fixes%3A%20Health%20Care%20for%20a%20Changing%20Work%20Force" /> <input type="hidden" name="description" value="With%2042%20million%20independent%20workers%20in%20the%20United%20States%2C%20the%20Freelancers%20Union%27s%20health%20plan%20may%20be%20a%20model%20for%20the%20future.%20" /> <input type="hidden" name="pub_date" value="20111201" /> <input type="hidden" name="author" value="By%20DAVID%20BORNSTEIN" /> <input type="hidden" name="section" value="Opinion" /> <input type="hidden" name="nytdsection" value="Opinion" /> <input type="hidden" name="nytdsubsection" value="" /> <input type="hidden" name="encrypted_key" value="ebOhXZ1SqUEMcFHGaX+caw" /> <input type="hidden" name="encryption_partner" value="about" /></form> <a class="post-email" href="javascript:NYTD.Blogs.email_this('114325', 'http%3A%2F%2Fopinionator.blogs.nytimes.com%2F2011%2F12%2F01%2Fhealth-care-for-a-changing-work-force%2F');">E-mail</a></li><li class="print"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/health-care-for-a-changing-work-force/?pagemode=print" rel="nofollow">Print</a></li><li class="facebook"><a id="facebook_button">Recommend</a></li><li id="share114325" class="closed share"><a class="shareButton">Share</a> <a class="closeButton" style="opacity:0; 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Each week, it examines creative initiatives that can tell us about the difference between success and failure. It is written by David Bornstein, author of <a href="http://davidbornstein.wordpress.com/books/how-to-change-the-world/"> “How to Change the World,”</a> and founder of <a href="http://dowser.org/">dowser.org</a>, and Tina Rosenberg, contributing writer for The New York Times magazine and author of <a href="http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Join-the-Club/">“Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World.” </a></em></p></div><p><em> Readers with ideas for future columns can write to the authors at fixes@nytimes.com. </em><br/> <em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Social-Change-New-York-Times/147881585260868?ref=sgm">Join Fixes on Facebook »</a></em></p></div><div class="box module verticalTabSet"><h4>Inside Opinionator</h4><div id="tabWidget-7" class="wrap"><div class="tabsContainer"><ul class="tabs"><li class="selected"><div class="pointer"></div><div class="wrap"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/pogs/fixes25.gif" alt="Fixes" class="left" 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</a></li><li> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/mark-bittman/" class="wrap"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/bittman/mark-bittman25.jpg" alt="Mark Bittman" class="left" /> <span class="author">Mark Bittman</span> </a></li><li> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/stanley-fish/" class="wrap"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/09/16/opinion/Fish_New/Fish_New-custom1.jpg" alt="Stanley Fish" class="left" /> <span class="author">Stanley Fish</span> </a></li></ul><ul class="element2 flushBottom"><li> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-conversation/" class="wrap"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/pogs/theconversation25.gif" alt="The Conversation" class="left" /> <span class="author">The Conversation</span> </a></li><li> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-score/" class="wrap"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/pogs/thescore25.gif" alt="The Score" class="left" /> <span class="author">The Score</span> </a></li><li> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-stone/" class="wrap"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/pogs/thestone25.gif" alt="The Stone" class="left" /> <span class="author">The Stone</span> </a></li><li> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-thread/" class="wrap"> <img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/pogs/thethread25.gif" alt="The Thread" class="left" /> <span class="author">The Thread</span> </a></li><li class="allContributors"><a href="/contributors/" class="wrap"><span class="author">All Contributors and Series »</span></a></li></ul></div></li></ul></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">December 1, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/health-care-for-a-changing-work-force/" title="Health Care for a Changing Work Force">Health Care for a Changing Work Force</a></h5><p>With 42 million independent workers in the United States, the Freelancers Union&#8217;s health plan may be a model for the future.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 29, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/giving-where-it-works/" title="Giving Where It Works">Giving Where It Works</a></h5><p>Most social enterprises struggle to survive. These seven programs make the most of the charitable dollars they receive.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/">More From Fixes &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">December 1, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/gun-nuts-in-a-rut/" title="Gun Nuts in a Rut">Gun Nuts in a Rut</a></h5><p>Despite all evidence to the contrary, the N.R.A. is determined to see President Obama as anti-gun.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 24, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/my-end-of-the-food-chain/" title="My End of the Food Chain">My End of the Food Chain</a></h5><p>Food from the wild is the way to go, even if it means having to remove the odd shotgun pellet.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/timothy-egan/">More From Timothy Egan &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">December 1, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/lincolns-p-r-coup/" title="Lincoln&#8217;s P.R. Coup">Lincoln&#8217;s P.R. Coup </a></h5><p>Why did the president release scores of State Department correspondence to the public in 1861?</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 29, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/beyond-glory/" title="Beyond &#8216;Glory&#8217;">Beyond &#8216;Glory&#8217;</a></h5><p>The complicated story of African-American soldiers goes back much further than the Civil War.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/disunion/">More From Disunion &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 30, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/my-bridge-to-nowhere/" title="My Bridge to Nowhere">My Bridge to Nowhere</a></h5><p>We thought that once we decided on adoption, out of the ether, a child would appear. I have been wrong before, but never quite this wrong.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 19, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/my-coney-island-crime/" title="My Coney Island Crime">My Coney Island Crime</a></h5><p>I came upon a man stealing sand from the beach, and then I helped him.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/townies/">More From Townies &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 30, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/sins-of-the-parents/" title="Sins of the Parents">Sins of the Parents</a></h5><p>Florida is treating residents who have lived their entire lives there as non-residents for tuition purposes if they can&#8217;t prove their parents are in the United States legally.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 16, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/reasonable-expectations/" title="Reasonable Expectations">Reasonable Expectations</a></h5><p>The Supreme Court will explore the permissible limits of government watchfulness over our daily lives.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/linda-greenhouse/">More From Linda Greenhouse &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 30, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/on-abortion-and-defining-a-person/" title="On Abortion and Defining a &#8216;Person&#8217;">On Abortion and Defining a &#8216;Person&#8217;</a></h5><p>A recent referendum in Mississippi suggests important consequences for the logic of the abortion debate.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 30, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/stone-links-10/" title="Stone Links">Stone Links</a></h5><p>A gathering of recent philosophy-related links.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-stone/">More From The Stone &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 30, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/the-not-romneys/" title="The Not-Romneys">The Not-Romneys</a></h5><p>What drives the anybody-but-Mitt phenomenon?</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 16, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/lightning-round/" title="Lightning Round">Lightning Round</a></h5><p>There are a lot of things to talk about: Cain, Gingrich, Occupy Wall Street — and Cincinnati.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-conversation/">More From The Conversation &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 29, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/making-local-food-real/" title="Making Local Food Real">Making Local Food Real</a></h5><p>In Vermont, community-supported agriculture that&#8217;s working.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 19, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/no-turkeys-here/" title="No Turkeys Here">No Turkeys Here</a></h5><p>Its easy to find signs of hope in the people and organizations whove been prodding American food back on a natural, sustainable, beautiful track.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/mark-bittman/">More From Mark Bittman &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 28, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/a-not-so-straight-story/" title="A Not-So-Straight Story">A Not-So-Straight Story</a></h5><p>The American-Canadian border, famously said to run straight across the 49th parallel for hundreds of miles, is neither straight nor along the 49th parallel.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 21, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/the-way-we-were/" title="The Way We Were">The Way We Were</a></h5><p>In an Age of Lead, it&#8217;s easy for countries to dream of a Golden Era when they were stronger — and much bigger.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/borderlines/">More From Borderlines &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 28, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/looking-at-dogs-and-cars/" title="Looking at Dogs and Cars">Looking at Dogs and Cars</a></h5><p>Is having a generous impulse enough, or do you have to follow through?</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 14, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/the-tobacco-horror-show/" title="The Tobacco Horror Show">The Tobacco Horror Show</a></h5><p>A court case involving cigarette ads raises murky issues about the relative impact of words and images.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/stanley-fish/">More From Stanley Fish &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 11, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/up-against-the-wall/" title="Up Against the Wall">Up Against the Wall</a></h5><p>A college ritual remembered: peculiar, official and all in the name of posture.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">October 21, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/hard-sell/" title="Tough Sell">Tough Sell</a></h5><p>Even a brilliant visionary had a hard time getting this author even to unpack his computer.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/dick-cavett/">More From Dick Cavett &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 10, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/lives-during-wartime-vol-3/" title="Lives During Wartime, Vol. 3">Lives During Wartime, Vol. 3</a></h5><p>A collection of reader photographs and remembrances of veterans and their service.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">November 9, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/checkpoints-a-u-s-veteran-in-baghdad/" title="Checkpoints: A U.S. Veteran in Baghdad">Checkpoints: A U.S. Veteran in Baghdad</a></h5><p>A poet and Iraq war veteran journeys to Baghdad&#8217;s &#8220;Street of the Dead&#8221; and beyond to try to understand life in the city today.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/home-fires/">More From Home Fires &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">October 28, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/the-cain-enigma/" title="The Cain Enigma">The Cain Enigma</a></h5><p>For many analysts, the success of Herman Cain defies logic.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">October 21, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/battle-of-the-borders/" title="Battle of the Borders">Battle of the Borders</a></h5><p>While Republicans talked tough on immigration, the Obama administration deported a record number of illegal immigrants.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-thread/">More From The Thread &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">October 18, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/prophecy-of-machines/" title="Prophecy of Machines">Prophecy of Machines</a></h5><p>Technology has surpassed art, not only in its power to influence public imagination, but also in prophetic vision.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">August 3, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/scoring-outside-the-lines/" title="Scoring Outside the Lines">Scoring Outside the Lines</a></h5><p>Writing music that goes beyond notes and clefs, into the realm of visual art.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-score/">More From The Score &raquo;</a></p></div></div><div class="tabContent"><div class="entry"> <span class="date">October 18, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/prophecy-of-machines/" title="Prophecy of Machines">Prophecy of Machines</a></h5><p>Technology has surpassed art, not only in its power to influence public imagination, but also in prophetic vision.</p></div><div class="entry"> <span class="date">August 3, 2011</span><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/scoring-outside-the-lines/" title="Scoring Outside the Lines">Scoring Outside the Lines</a></h5><p>Writing music that goes beyond notes and clefs, into the realm of visual art.</p></div><div class="entry"><p class="more"><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/the-score/">More From The Score &raquo;</a></p></div></div></div><script type="text/javascript">NYTD.TabSet("tabWidget-7");</script><script type="text/javascript">new NYTD.Blogs.TabSetOverlayRevealer('overlayTrigger_controller').init();</script></div><div class="box module nocontent"><h4>Note to Readers</h4><div class="entry"><p class="summary">The Times has introduced an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/opinion/a-note-to-our-readers.html">improved comment system</a>, which will provide threading 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These seven programs make the most of the charitable dollars they receive.</p></div><div class="entry"> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/scaling-the-wall-in-the-head/"><img alt="Thumbnail" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/11/26/opinion/26stone-img/26stone-img-thumbStandard.jpg" class="w75 right"/></a><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/scaling-the-wall-in-the-head/" title="Scaling the &#8216;Wall in the Head&#8217;">Scaling the &#8216;Wall in the Head&#8217;</a></h5><h6 class="byline">By COSTICA BRADATAN</h6><p class="summary">Walls and fences, electrified or not, protect people not from nameless barbarians, but from their own anxieties and fears.</p></div><div class="entry"><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/an-electronic-eye-on-hospital-hand-washing/" title="An Electronic Eye on Hospital Hand-Washing">An Electronic Eye on Hospital Hand-Washing</a></h5><h6 class="byline">By TINA ROSENBERG</h6><p class="summary">A video monitoring system is helping to increase hand-washing rates and reduce deadly hospital-acquired infections.</p></div></div><div class="box module nocontent"><h4>Previous Series</h4><div class="entry"> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/line-by-line/"><img alt="Thumbnail" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/linebyline/linebyline75.gif" class="w75 right" /></a><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/line-by-line/" title="Line by Line">Line by Line</a></h5><p class="summary">A series on the basics of drawing, presented by the artist and author James McMullan, beginning with line, perspective, proportion and structure.</p></div><div class="entry"> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/steven-strogatz/"><img alt="Thumbnail" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/opinionator/contributors/strogatz75.jpg" class="w75 right" /></a><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/steven-strogatz/" title="Steven Strogatz">The Elements of Math</a></h5><p class="summary">A series on math, from the basic to the baffling, by Steven Strogatz. Beginning with why numbers are helpful and finishing with the mysteries of infinity.</p></div><div class="entry"> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/living-rooms/"><img alt="Thumbnail" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs_v3/opinionator/pogs/livingrooms75.gif" class="w75 right" /></a><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/living-rooms/" title="Living Rooms">Living Rooms</a></h5><p class="summary">The past, present and future of domestic life, with contributions from artists, journalists, design experts and historians.</p></div><div class="entry"> <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/specimens/"><img alt="Thumbnail" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/specimens/specimens-75.gif" class="w75 right" /></a><h5><a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/specimens/" title="Specimens">Specimens</a></h5><p class="summary">This series by Richard Conniff looks at how species discovery has transformed our lives.</p></div></div><div class="box module feeds"><h4>Subscribe</h4><div class="entry subColumn-2"><div class="column"><ul class="rssCcolumn flushBottom"><li><a title="Subscribe to Opinionator RSS Feed" href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/feed/">Opinionator RSS</a></li></ul></div><div class="column lastColumn"><ul class="rssCcolumn flushBottom"><li><a title="Subscribe to Fixes RSS Feed" href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/feed/">Fixes RSS</a></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='box module ad'> <script type="text/javascript">//
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