December, 2009 archive
The Entitlement Society 0
In the Footsteps of Dr. Harry Byrd 0
Blue Cross used to be non-profit. Now it is non-principled:
The next step, of course, will be to close the public schools hospitals rather than admit darkies non-rich patients.
On the Preservation of Marriage as an Institution 0
In pictures.
Aside: Rush Limbaugh is preserving his fourth. He’s gaining on Larry King and Liz Taylor.
We Need Single Payer 0
The whole darn system of tying health insurance to employment was absurd from the git-go; that may be why every other industrialized company does it differently.
A house built on sand and all that, dedicated to the proposition of paying insurance company execs’ country club memberships and Wall Street Banksters trading fees.
Now it is falling apart, and we can see who is more important to our elected representatives incongruously assembled: rich folks or rickety folks.
Look what happens when COBRAs are unleashed:
An effort has emerged in Congress to extend the aid, but deficit concerns may make that a tough sell. The end of the subsidy would be a major blow for people battling extended joblessness.
The cost of maintaining the average policy was $398 per month for a family and $144 for an individual, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Once the subsidy expires, that cost jumps to $1,137 per month for family coverage and $410 per month for individual coverage.
Missionary Statement 0
El Reg:
As a long-time reader of Playboy; a common sewer of books by my favorite author, Anonymous; and an internet veteran, and as one who also knows a person whose offspring subscribes to Cosmopolitan, I say unabashedly that Cosmopolitan is the smarmiest, trashiest thing I have ever read in my life.
Not necessarily the most prurient nor the most explicit, but easily the smarmiest and trashiest.
(Yes, I saw the article that El Reg discusses. It was, indeed, too stupid for words.)
‘Tis the Season 0
To go looking for a fight in a spirit of love and brotherhood.
I have figured it out.
In fact, I figured it out long ago, but only just connected it to the wingnut fantasies of a War on Christmas. (Hell, if there’s a War on Christmas in these parts, Christmas won long ago.)
Some folks just ain’t happy unless they’re hatin’ on something or someone. Nothing to hate, they make something up.
Why Being a News Junkie Is a Good Thing 0
From Scientific Blogging:
The summary of the study did not consider real vs. faux news.
Bubblicious 1
Commercial real estate–the other shoe is still dropping:
And bad as things are, they’re expected to get worse – the next slide in the snowballing economic crisis that began with the collapse of the housing market and continues to claim casualties.
(snip)
For instance, a property bought in 2005 for $10 million with a $7 million mortgage now might be valued at $6 million, said Steve Blank, a senior fellow in finance at the Washington-based Urban Land Institute.
Since these folks are losing their Armani shirts for whole shopping centers and office buildings, rather than for one bungalow or condo, there will be no shortage of state and local government help for them and no pundits calling them deadbeats for taking out the loans in the first place.
No, they are merely victims of the economy. It is only the poor who are responsible for their own fates.
Jobs Program 0
“We’ve received probably twice as many requests for free labor,” said Les Moore, a major at the detention center. “It’s definitely because of the economy.”
Not that I have anything against inmates doing something useful and, frankly, I suspect they enjoy getting out and about, but, when unemployment is around 10% and real unemployment is no doubt much higher, this does look a bit like balancing the budget on the backs of the jobless.
The Internet Is a Public Place 0
I have avoided the Tiger Woods thing for two reasons: It’s boring, and he has never set himself up to dictate the definition of virtue to others.
But it is a reminder:
Light Bloggery 2
I’ve decided to do no thinking today.
Dustbiters 0
While I was unloading my truck, more banks bit the dust:
Another one(s) bites the dust:
Remember, these were the folks who needed to be deregulated because they were never wrong, they were always right.
We Need Single Payer 0
One of my Facebook friends–someone I actually know a little better than most of them–has just suffered a sudden hearing loss.
The doctor says she needs hearing aids.
Her insurance doesn’t cover hearing aids.
This is not right.
I remember when health insurance companies adopted the HMO model in the late 70s. They promised that, by moving to that method, they could
- keep costs down
- keep premiums reasonable, and still
- make a profit.
The only promise they have delivered is number 3.
They have had their chance and failed.
It really is all about their country club memberships.
Remember the Cabbage Patch Dolls! 1
And the Power Rangers.
And the Beanie Babies.
“Lycra-Clad Velociraptors” 2
The Guardian reports on a staged-for-TV debate over bicyclists in London.
The anti-cyclist rhetoric was rather over the top, but Jeez-oh-man, this is a great line, and, sadly, it contains some truth. Leave it to the Brits to turn a phrase:
“To a cyclist, a red light is merely a way of bringing a dash of colour to a city street.”
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go (Updated) 1
Unemployment figures less bad this week. Bloomberg:
“The labor market is turning,” said Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. “We are set to break into positive job growth over the next few months. The recovery is proceeding on schedule.”
I do find the quotation in the second paragraph to show the hubris one would expect from a Master of the Universe.
Where, praytell, is this schedule of which he speaks?
Addendum:
