First Looks category archive
Death Panels 2
TerranceDC recounts the story of Ian Pearl, whose health insurance company searched desperately for a way to cancel his policy. A nugget:
Our (the Pearl family’s–ed.) lawsuit uncovered insurance company documents that confirmed my suspicion that I’m a target of discrimination. The documents revealed Guardian had compiled a “hit list” of its costliest members, including patients with muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, and paralysis. Guardian executives referred to us all as “dogs” and “trainwrecks,” and they debated how and when to dump us from the rolls. Laws prohibited the cancellation of the individual members with serious chronic health problems, so Guardian opted to cancel the plan for all members of this specific health plan in New York, an action that violates federal law.
In Transit (Announcement) (Update 1) (Update 2) (Update 3) 0
Karen’s comment to this post tells me that it is time for this announcement.
Some time soon, in no less than two weeks and no more than four, From Pine View Farm World Headquarters will be relocating from Delaware to Virginia Beach, Virginia. During the transition, the site will be off-line, I hope for no more than two days.
More information will be forthcoming as I figure out what it is.
And Then There Were None 2
The last video rental store within a convenient distance of Pine View Farm World Headquarters is giving up the ghost.
Sportsmanship 7
At a Pop Warner practice in Mass, it’s a wonderful thing:
Michael VonKahle, 48, suffered a shattered eye socket, a broken nose, and a concussion in the fight, which took place in a secluded area during the Friday night practice behind Wilmington Town Hall, according to interviews conducted by police. No charges have been filed.
The coach is blaming the parent. The parent is blaming the coach.
Maybe someone should consider stop organizing kids to their eyeteeth and just letting them play with each other.
They could steal stop signs, drive fast, and tp teachers’ yards like I used to do.
Light Bloggery 0
Home improvements. Only one bandaid.
Oh, My 0
I thought this was settled 30 years ago.
Greater Wingnuttery XLIII 0
Field has the recap.
Baseball as It Should Be 0
Played by men of iron with bats of wood.
Secretariat 1
My father thought he should be named Male Athlete of the Year in 1973.
Gun Nuttery 4
Over at Brendan’s place.
Guns are nasty, smelly, dangerous things that must be treated with respect. There is irony in that many of those most vocal about bearing arms are among the least respectful of the power of firearms.
They’ve seen too many cowboy movies.
It’s Assault 2
Oh, my.
According to testimony in a special court-martial at Norfolk Naval Station, both women chose to have unprotected sex with Franklin after learning he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Their consent did not let Franklin off the hook. The 37-year-old aviation electronics technician was sentenced to three months’ confinement and a bad-conduct discharge after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated assault as well as disobeying an order.
We Need Single Payer 0
Dick Polman demolishes Senator Flying My Ensign’s in the Wrong Place sophistries:
Wow. Where to begin…
1. “Taking out” the car and gun-related deaths in order to improve the death stats is akin to saying that the New York Mets would be winning the National League East if we simply take out the losses.
2. Ensign’s sophistry is irrelevent, because the international statistics don’t even deal with cars and guns. Instead, they compare apples to apples. In a 2008 study, the Commonwealth Fund focused solely on serious physical illnesses “such as treatable cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases…deaths from certain causes before age 75 that are potentially preventable with timely and effective health care.” The Fund looked at 19 industrialized nations (14 in western Europe, plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and America), for the years 2002 and 2003…and, of all 19, America had the worst preventable death rate.
3. The OECD has written that, even if you factor in America’s high death rate from all accidents and injuries, America improves its life-expectancy ranking by only two notches, from 19th of 29 member nations to 17th of 29.
4. Ensign was inadvertently suggesting that America would suffer far fewer premature deaths if we didn’t love our cars so much, or love our guns so much. But Hades would freeze over before a conservative Republican would follow his own logic and conclude that we’d suffer far fewer preventable deaths by enhancing public transportation and curbing the love affair with guns. Naturally, Ensign said neither.
5. Forget the gun and car deaths for a moment. There are also three million car accident injuries each year in America, as well as 70,000 annual gun injuries. It’s fair to assume that a hefty number of those injured people don’t have access to any health insurance. Care to guess who picks up the tab?
The Republican Party.
Since 1876 the Party of Privilege and since 1980 (at least) the Party of Facts Don’t Matter.
Caveat Click-or 0
Vet the vendors when buying from the classifieds, either on line or in print..
He was one of several. The mopes were juvies.
I did recently have my first and first successful encounter with Craig’s List–finding a new owner (I found out it’s now called “re-homing”) for one of my dogs.
Drink Liberally 0
Triumph Brewing Company, 2nd and Chestnut, Philadelphia, 6 p. Tuesday.
Whether or not I make it depends on whether or not I get the family room painted.
Live charitably.
Twits on Twitter 2
It seems to me that this arrest is a little over the top.
The pair were found sitting in front of a bank of laptops and emergency frequency radio scanners. They were wearing headphones and microphones and had many maps and contact numbers in the room.
Official police documents allege the two men used Twitter messages to contact protesters at the summit “and to inform the protesters and groups of the movements and actions of law enforcement”.
Behind the Olive Green Door 0
Stuff goes on that we don’t want to know about.
Secrecy is the enemy. The plain light of day is the friend.
Sauce for the Goose 0
Sauce for the gander. Elizabeth Day at the Guardian:
It came courtesy of an Institute of Child Health study of more than 12,500 five-year-olds that suggested the children of working women are less active and more likely to eat unhealthy food.
The subsequent reaction was rather predictable.
There was the usual thrown-together media debate between muffin-baking housewives and BlackBerry-wielding career women and the stripped pine kitchens of middle England reverberated with the sound of rustling crisp packets as harassed nannies rapidly emptied the cupboards of junk food
But amid all the fuss there was a conspicuous silence from the nation’s men. Interesting though the findings were, it was striking that there was no comparative evaluation of what impact a working father might have on his children. In fact, the role of the male parent had been quite deliberately ignored: according to Professor Catherine Law, who led the study, there was no need to include them because fathers’ employment levels had not substantially changed whereas the numbers of working mothers had increased dramatically in the last few years.
Light Bloggery the Rest of the Week 2
I’m painting rooms. If you like to paint so I can annoy persons via the innertubes, apply within.