Lunatic Zone

• Terrorist have tried to shut down the Government.

• John Boehner has done what others failed to do; shut down the government.

• Its US policy; The president does not negotiate with terrorists.

Gun Control

Its all been said already. Its all been said before.  My take, its simple.  I respect firearms.  I find target practice to be fun.  The more kick the gun has, the greater the thrill.

But that's what it really boils down to; a thrill.  A drug "junkie" finds cocaine, LSD, heroin, etc to be a thrill.   Driving over 150 mpg is a thrill.   Yet, the majority of society, finds all such thing that are enjoyable, must be moderated.  Not for the individual, but rather for the safety of others.

Assault weapons are no different.

Assault weapons serve one purpose.  To kill as many people as humanly possible. Assault weapons, to be vague; are for assault, not defense.  If people are insecure, fine.  Carry a side arm like a 9mm.  But if you feel the need to own an military grade weapon.  Then consider yourself insecure, and in need of some major therapy.  If you like the feel of power such as speed, there are race tracks you can take your car.  Military grade weapons, should be no different.  People can go to designated places to deal with their addictions.  Check out a gun, squeeze off a few rounds, the check their toy back in, before leaving.  Simple.

Here's what we leaned in the aftermath of yet another school shooting.

• Nothing is going to change
• A very small percentage actually understand the gun laws of this and other countries
• Very few people understand what its like to loose a child
• Assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and bombs serve one purpose, killing en mass
• White suburban parents need to take a reality check
• America is a gun culture; America has a gun problem
• Lock-down procedures don't work against assault rifles
• The republican nominated Supreme Court members failed the children of Sandy Elementary
• Owning an assault rifle won't protect you or your loved ones
• If your need high capacity mags to protect your family or to hunt; you're doing it wrong.
• Americans are paranoid
• We are in the age of cutbacks, there is no funding for any additional mental health.
• There was an armed security guard at Columbine HS; guns were at the Az shooting; James Brady was surrounded by the nations top guns, didn't help.

Who's running for President - Fox Edition

Fox news ran an article on election day about the increase of Google searches for the query, "who is running for president" so close to election day.  It's a meaningless article, given trends for anything election related will spike, and 100 is the peak for any given search word, its not an actual number.  In the article, the writer makes fun of the ignorant, hopeless folks making such a search, so close to election day.  Almost alluding to the poor, uneducated.

Anyways, lets just go with this for a moment.  First of all, Fox News had been looking at the world wide stats, as seen on their image ...oops.

Next, I filtered down to the USA.  When you break it down by state, here's where the humor lies.  While I'd expect the large number of searches to come from the most populous states (CA, TX, NY), it turns out the large volume came from smaller populous states.  Red States.  Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama; all ranked the highest in trying to figure out who was running for president, week of the election.  Following Alabama are more red states, Indiana, North Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma in that order.

Click image for larger view

So good job Fox, making fun of your viewers, and please, don't fuck with stats.

CNN redistricts MI 3rd Congressional Seat

Apparently CNN has mistakenly drawn Michigan's 3rd District to belong to the great island of Isle Royale.  For those that don't know, Isle Royale is a National Park isolated in frigid Lake Superior.  Population of Zero.  Best known for its high moose turnout during every election year.

Obama's Deadhead Debate

No question, Obama bombed the 1st round of debates.  For me, it was the lack of missed opportunities.

Here's a few of Mitts comments to ponder.

• Mitt supports investing for education for young Americans, but just said he would cut PBS and Big Bird.
• Mitt supports freedom of religion, but says we are a nation under one god.
• If Mitt can't get the Affordable Care Act title correct, how in the world is he going to keep the contents straight. 
• Mitt discounted Obama's study quote, but then openly used his own studies as examples.

US Unemployment Reality Check

Talking to my grandmother-in-law last week while watching the GOP convention, I'm reminded why I can't stand the party anymore.  The misinformation is staggering.  Quoting sources from gossip magazines, and other fine literature, I'm baffled over just how easily manipulated our society has become.

Lets looks at the main thing on our minds: Jobs.

Looking at the graph above, you'll see in red, the actual underemployment rate.  No secret, unemployment rate got worse while Obama was president.  But for heavens sack, lets go back a whopping 5 years ago if we can.  The US economy was looking at its worst since the great depression.  Dubbed the Financial Crises of 2008, it was primarily driven by the failed Greenspan experiment.  Not even God himself could turn around the economy, given the mess that was created, along with world wide problems (Europe economy fail, Japan tsunami, etc).  And yet, listening to Mitt's campaign, it would seem, that's exactly what the American people thought would happen (see graph in blue).

A few facts to be taken from this graph...

• In his first year, Obama stopped the slide of unemployment from reaching Reagan levels.
• Yes, Reagan had a worse unemployment in '82 & '83.
• After Obama's first year in office, unemployment began to decrease.
• Unemployment is near the same spot, as when he took over.
• Republican proposals shadow 2008 ideals.
• I've also listed when the full part of Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") goes into effect on the graph.

Akin to Disaster

If I was a woman, I'd be mad as hell. So, I'm just mad.

I've really tried to keep this blog clean of politics.  But after the Todd Akin fiasco, some things just need to be laid out in plain English.

While the GOP is asking Todd to step aside (more in fear that he'd loose, and not directly on his beliefs), the GOP DOES support the ideals that Akin holds dear to his heart.  This is not an act of one man.

Over the last few years, the definition of rape has been under attack by GOP members (including Mitts VP nominee) and Blue Dog Democrats.  Luckily such bill (statutory rape, the rape of a drugged or mentally impaired woman, or any rape where the rapist did not use physical force would not be considered rape) was struck down by the democrat majority Senate.

In the Michigan House, a Democrat was censored when she used the word vagina while debating abortion law from the Republican controlled majority.  The next day she was suspended from participating in the debate.  Perhaps next time she shall no longer use the correct terminology, and go with 'that special place'.

In 31 states (as per 2010 data), men who father through rape are able to assert the same custody and visitation rights to their children that other fathers enjoy.  Wanna take bets what states?

Its these ideals that send millions of funds via super-pacs to the Romney camp.

Akin continues to sit on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.  Don't you think if the GOP really wanted to distance themselves, they would have suspended him from the committee?  How the hell did a guy get on the committee; who thinks a woman that had a miscarriage, really didn't want that child bad enough? How the hell did a guy who thinks a woman that was raped, whom goes full term, secretly justified the rape? Biden may be poor at his words, but nothing goes to this level.

If the GOP is serious, remove Todd Akin from the SST committee.  A man who "thinks with his heart, then with his brain" is not a qualifier for the position.

What is Obama Care?

There is no Obama-Care. Any politician that refers to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as ObamaCare, lowers their standards, and gets to the heart of the confusion.  If you cant call it, what it is; how can you debunk it.  Its like slamming the bible by call it the Jesus-Book; and then never actually readng the thing.

The following simplifies what PPACA is, and what it will be.  Originally posted on Reddit, none of the following is my own:


CaspianX2 -
"Okay, explained like you're a five year-old (well, okay, maybe a bit older), without too much oversimplification, and (hopefully) without sounding too biased:

What people call "Obamacare" is actually the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, people were calling it "Obamacare" before everyone even hammered out what it would be. It's a term mostly used by people who don't like the PPACA, and it's become popularized in part because PPACA is a really long and awkward name, even when you turn it into an acronym like that.

Anyway, the PPACA made a bunch of new rules regarding health care, with the purpose of making health care more affordable for everyone. Opponents of the PPACA, on the other hand, feel that the rules it makes take away too many freedoms and force people (both individuals and businesses) to do things they shouldn't have to.

So what does it do? Well, here is everything, in the order of when it goes into effect (because some of it happens later than other parts of it):

Already in effect:

• It allows the Food and Drug Administration to approve more generic drugs (making for more competition in the market to drive down prices)
• It increases the rebates on drugs people get through Medicare (so drugs cost less)
• It establishes a non-profit group, that the government doesn't directly control, [1] PCORI, to study different kinds of treatments to see what works better and is the best use of money. ( [2] Citation: Page 665, sec. 1181 )
• It makes chain restaurants like McDonalds display how many calories are in all of their foods, so people can have an easier time making choices to eat healthy. ( [3] Citation: Page 499, sec. 4205 )
• It makes a "high-risk pool" for people with pre-existing conditions. Basically, this is a way to slowly ease into getting rid of "pre-existing conditions" altogether. For now, people who already have health issues that would be considered "pre-existing conditions" can still get insurance, but at different rates than people without them.
• It renews some old policies, and calls for the appointment of various positions.
• It creates a new 10% tax on indoor tanning booths. ( [4] Citation: Page 923, sec. 5000B )
• It says that health insurance companies can no longer tell customers that they won't get any more coverage because they have hit a "lifetime limit". Basically, if someone has paid for health insurance, that company can't tell that person that he's used that insurance too much throughout his life so they won't cover him any more. They can't do this for lifetime spending, and they're limited in how much they can do this for yearly spending. ( [5] Citation: Page 14, sec. 2711 )
• Kids can continue to be covered by their parents' health insurance until they're 26.
• No more "pre-existing conditions" for kids under the age of 19.
• Insurers have less ability to change the amount customers have to pay for their plans.
• People in a "Medicare Gap" get a rebate to make up for the extra money they would otherwise have to spend.
• Insurers can't just drop customers once they get sick. ( [6] Citation: Page 14, sec. 2712 )
• Insurers have to tell customers what they're spending money on. (Instead of just "administrative fee", they have to be more specific).
• Insurers need to have an appeals process for when they turn down a claim, so customers have some manner of recourse other than a lawsuit when they're turned down.
• New ways to stop fraud are created.
• Medicare extends to smaller hospitals.
• Medicare patients with chronic illnesses must be monitored more thoroughly.
• Reduces the costs for some companies that handle benefits for the elderly.
• A new website is made to give people insurance and health information. (I think this is it: [7] http://www.healthcare.gov/ ).
• A credit program is made that will make it easier for business to invest in new ways to treat illness.
• A limit is placed on just how much of a percentage of the money an insurer makes can be profit, to make sure they're not price-gouging customers.
• A limit is placed on what type of insurance accounts can be used to pay for over-the-counter drugs without a prescription. Basically, your insurer isn't paying for the Aspirin you bought for that hangover.
• Employers need to list the benefits they provided to employees on their tax forms.

8/1/2012

• Any health plans sold after this date must provide preventative care (mammograms, colonoscopies, etc.) without requiring any sort of co-pay or charge.

1/1/2013

• If you make over $200,000 a year, your taxes go up a tiny bit (0.9%). Edit: To address those who take issue with the word "tiny", a change of 0.9% is relatively tiny. Any look at how taxes have fluctuated over the years will reveal that a change of less than one percent is miniscule, especially when we're talking about people in the top 5% of earners.

1/1/2014
This is when a lot of the really big changes happen.

• No more "pre-existing conditions". At all. People will be charged the same regardless of their medical history.
• If you can afford insurance but do not get it, you will be charged a fee. This is the "mandate" that people are talking about. Basically, it's a trade-off for the "pre-existing conditions" bit, saying that since insurers now have to cover you regardless of what you have, you can't just wait to buy insurance until you get sick. Otherwise no one would buy insurance until they needed it. You can opt not to get insurance, but you'll have to pay the fee instead, unless of course you're not buying insurance because you just can't afford it.
• Insurers now can't do annual spending caps. Their customers can get as much health care in a given year as they need. ( [8] Citation: Page 14, sec. 2711 )
• Make it so more poor people can get Medicaid by making the low-income cut-off higher.
• Small businesses get some tax credits for two years.
• Businesses with over 50 employees must offer health insurance to full-time employees, or pay a penalty.
• Limits how high of an annual deductible insurers can charge customers.
• Cut some Medicare spending
• Place a $2500 limit on tax-free spending on FSAs (accounts for medical spending). Basically, people using these accounts now have to pay taxes on any money over $2500 they put into them.
• Establish health insurance exchanges and rebates for the lower and middle-class, basically making it so they have an easier time getting affordable medical coverage.
• Congress and Congressional staff will only be offered the same insurance offered to people in the insurance exchanges, rather than Federal Insurance. Basically, we won't be footing their health care bills any more than any other American citizen.
• A new tax on pharmaceutical companies.
• A new tax on the purchase of medical devices.
• A new tax on insurance companies based on their market share. Basically, the more of the market they control, the more they'll get taxed.
• The amount you can deduct from your taxes for medical expenses increases.
• 1/1/2015
• Doctors' pay will be determined by the quality of their care, not how many people they treat. Edit: a_real_MD addresses questions regarding this one in far more detail and with far more expertise than I can offer in [9] this post. If you're looking for a more in-depth explanation of this one (as many of you are), I highly recommend you give his post a read.

1/1/2017

• If any state can come up with their own plan, one which gives citizens the same level of care at the same price as the PPACA, they can ask the Secretary of Health and Human Resources for permission to do their plan instead of the PPACA. So if they can get the same results without, say, the mandate, they can be allowed to do so. Vermont, for example, has expressed a desire to just go straight to single-payer (in simple terms, everyone is covered, and medical expenses are paid by taxpayers).

2018

• All health care plans must now cover preventative care (not just the new ones).
• A new tax on "Cadillac" health care plans (more expensive plans for rich people who want fancier coverage).

2020

• The elimination of the "Medicare gap"

Example:

"Originally posted by joshyelon

I'm going to take your post and explain it to a five year-old:
Bob: Hi, insurance company. I'd like to buy some health insurance.
Insurance company: No. You had cancer when you were 3 years old, and the cancer could come back. We're not selling you health insurance.
Bob: It's not my fault I got cancer when I was three! Besides, that was years ago!
Insurance company: If we sell insurance to you, we'll probably lose money, and we're not doing it.
Bob: But I need insurance more than anyone! My cancer might come back!
Insurance company: We don't care. We're not selling you insurance.
Obama: Hey, that's totally not fair. Bob is right, he does need insurance! Sell Bob some insurance.
Insurance company: If we have to, I guess.
Mary: This is cool. Obama said the insurance company has to sell insurance to anyone who needs it.
Sam: Hey, I have an idea. I'm going to stop paying for health insurance. If I get sick, I can always go buy some insurance then. The insurance company won't be able to say no, because Obama's told them they have to sell it to anyone who needs it!
Dave: that's a great idea! I'm not paying for health insurance either, at least not until I get sick.
Insurance company: Hey! If everyone stops paying for insurance, we'll go bankrupt!
Obama: Oh come on Sam and Dave, that's not fair either.
Dave: I don't care. It saves me money.
Obama: Oh for god's sake. Sam, Dave, you have to keep paying for health insurance, and not wait until you're sick. You too, Mary and Bob.
Mary: But I'm broke! I can't buy insurance! I just don't have any money.
Obama: Mary, show me your piggy bank. Oh, wow, you really are broke. Ok, tell you what. You still have to buy insurance, but I'll help you pay 95% of the cost.
Mary: thank you.
Obama: I need an aspirin.
Insurance company: We're not paying for that aspirin."

SOPA/PIPA Dead; OPEN is Next

So how'd we get here?  Explained:

RED = Congressional Disapproval

BLACK = Congressional Approval

2009, Democrats seize control of Congress, Hope is in the air.  Job loss stops to slip.  Approval spikes.  Reality sets in, a 2 party system is still a two party system.  Misinformation on Health bill leads to increased distrust.  Congress looses trace of job market, which has flat lined.  Tea Party rises up on the backs of additional misinformation and hate for tax increase proposals...for the rich and other government regulation.  2011 republicans are back, along with their new found Tea Party friends.  Hope.  Approval rises.  2 months later, reality sets in.  Could it be, those that rode the TP band wagon have been run over by their very own bus?  Indeed.  Gridlock.  Approval drops to record low 9%.  Boehner cries.

This IS Class Warfare

So Obama is being accused of starting class warfare by dropping the tax cuts for the rich.  Depending how you do the numbers (such as excluding payroll taxes and calculating how the income is earned) the rich can pay less percentages then the middle class. I'd say there's been class warfare for quite some time. Jobs were not created when Bush put the tax cut law into place, so why would we loose them with the cuts removed?  There is no evidence.

People - we have FEMA with no funds, due to global disasters; we haven't figured out how to pay for Homeland Security, whom is building a bigger complex then the Pentagon; nor have we allocated funds for our wars that are approaching 10 years.  The US debt has nothing to do with stimulus, Obama-care, schools, bargaining rights, planned parenthood, or social security.  Its all related to our money vacuum created after 9/11.  The fight on terror has never been put into a budget.  Its never been capped.

The good people of the 1950s, knew in order to pay off the debt from WWII and put people back to work, they had to pay high taxes.  Well, guess what.  The conflicts in the past decade have budgetary surpassed WWII, yet it would appear US citizens have no backbone to pay for the fight on terror.

Then there's jerks like this, that just make me say you want class warfare?  ....bring it.

Juan Williams Redefining Bigotry

Juan Williams, the NPR/Fox News dude that had been fired from NPR for sharing his personal opinion about his fear of Muslims in garb at the airport, is currently touring the media circuit publicizing his new book.  I've heard him on Jon Stewart, I heard him on Diane Rehm's Show, and I heard him on O'reilly.  In all 3 programs he's defined himself as not being a bigot because he has written books about "[African-American] Civil Rights Movement" and Justice Thurgood Marshall.  Regardless of what NPR did, this is the WTF moment for me.

An example.  If a white tone male, born in Panama,  wrote a book about the First US president, and a book about the Irish immigration struggle, then go on and talk about a fear of black people in the airport.  Would you conclude the speaker is a bigot?  Could go either way, debatable. But NPR never called Juan a bigot either, nor is he being 'Muzzled', he simply broke the rules of good journalism. HOWEVER, I would conclude Juan has some major cultural issues he needs to over come, perhaps by joining a reach-out program, or some good old fashion hard core therapy. If you fear Muslims at the airport, then you just let the terrorists win.

So the last bird has gone up

When the shuttle's program end was announced, I took it personally.  I remember seeing the first launch of Columbia live at the Cape.  I walked away with half the crap from the gift shop (thanks mom).  I wanted to go up in space.  I wanted to go to space camp.  I was inspired.

Then, much like the Moon program, reality sets in.  Problems at home, politics, budgets, public interest, risk and many other factors play into the end of an era. Politics grinds me the most.  Every President seems to have their own take on NASA's goals.  Given the amount of research/technology that is produced for a space flight mission, I'm surprised NASA has gone as far as it has with such a rotating mission statement.  So what is the right thing for NASA to do?

The private sector is not even close to having regular trips into space and certainly not on the scale of NASA or Russia's space Program.  However, there is a market.  It can be done, eventually.    NASA has in fact done near earth orbit.  The science is dry.  Much like how we outsource building our goods to other countries, going into low earth orbit, is beneath what NASA should do.  If China can make our beloved iToys, they can Greyhound our American asses to space too.  NASA needs, and will under the Obama plan, to focus on research for faster, efficient, and safe transportation.  NASA needs a valid long term goal for out of orbit travel.   Visiting the moon is nice.  But not good enough.  Visiting the moon , installing a telescope on the dark side of the moon while harvesting some O3, yeah that sounds good.  But the Orion program just wanted to take us back to the moon, and do the Apallo program again, but with way less budget.

Keep in mind, this is not the end.  There are plans to put a human on an asteroid.  There are plans to launch more robots into space.  Plans will continue.  The problem is will the Americans pay thier fucking taxes to support such ventures?