-
Quote:"Consider 24-year-old Nils Higdon. The self-employed percussionist and part-time teacher in Chicago pays $140 each month for health insurance. But he's healthy and so far hasn't needed it.
The law relies on Higdon and other young adults to shoulder more of the financial load in new health insurance risk pools. So under the new system, Higdon could expect to pay $300 to $500 a year more. Depending on his income, he might also qualify for tax credits.
At issue is the insurance industry's practice of charging more for older customers, who are the costliest to insure. The new law restricts how much insurers can raise premium costs based on age alone."
// Young people pay more to subsidize older, generally wealthier people. Thanks Obama. (To avoid subsidizing irresponsible older folks? Simple, keep your income low and collect the subsidy. In other words, be irresponsible).There ain't no free lunch.
-
Quote:"Matt Drudge may be the most important and influential figure in American media and journalism, but this may well be a curse for conservatives, not a blessing. Dreams die hard and delusions lose elections.
// HT Matt Drudge
-
Quote:"Catherine Ison, a specialist on gonorrhea from Britain's Health Protection Agency said a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Manila next week would be vital to efforts to try to stop the bug repeatedly adapting to and overcoming drugs.
// Just when we thought we had made the world safe for unlimited, unprotected promiscuous sex…
-
Quote:"It's a twist in the law that may affect thousands of other workers, given that the ranks of the long-term unemployed are now so high. Many people who have been out of work for a year are picking up work as temps or part-timers, unaware that state agencies will recalculate their unemployment benefits after a year – and use their most recent work history and pay level to do it.
// So no tempwork. If it's not permanent-fulltime, don't take it. That's what the incentive is here. And it will create a population of permanently unemployed poor who have work skills and motivation and opportunitie but can't afford to take it.
-
Quote:"One of the main obstructions to meaningful action is "modern democracy", he added. "Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while."
// Just an FYI
-
Quote:"In classic game theory, confrontation is sometimes necessary when cooperation breaks down to present a credible potential threat and get the two sides to re-engage, said Robert Axelrod, a University of Michigan political scientist and author of the game-theory book, "The Evolution of Cooperation." He isn't related to White House senior adviser David Axelrod.
// My guess is this tactic will make things worse for the dems. It may enliven their base a little more than it already has after passing the healthcare bill, but it will infuriate the GOP base. So the effect is cancelled out. The question is what it does for moderates and centrists. Again, a guess, I think the middle of the spectrum voters are getting turned off of Obama. We'll see how it all turns out.
-
Quote:"A very small percentage of the population can safely drive while talking on their cell phones, but chances are high that you're not one of these "supertaskers."
In a new study, psychologists have identified a group of people who can successfully do two things at once, in this case talking on a cell phone while operating a driving simulator without noticeable impairment.
Supertaskers only make up about 2.5 percent of the general population, however, said study team member James Watson of the University of Utah.
// So, could we test for this and license some people to talk and drive?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off
