Drive-Bys

This just beggars belief:



As does this:


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For those of you torn between the new Kindle Fire, which started shttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhipping earlier this week, and the new Nook Tablet, due out Friday, here's another curveball:

"Although Amazon goes out of its way to hide all traces of vanilla Android from its new Kindle Fire tablet, it turns out tech-savvy users can still install select third-party Android applications outside the auspices of the Amazon Appstore. These apps include Amazon competitors, like Barnes & Noble’s Nook app for Android."

Which ever one you choose, I'm envious.
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Shakira was right: Hips don't lie.

"If one would like to 'fake' a certain (positive) personality in order to attract women, this is probably doomed to fail," Fink said. "An individual's body movement pattern is characteristic and any attempt to fake it would result in less positive judgments of that person."

I knew that.
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I've heard of blaming the dog, but blaming the door???

It appears the mind regards a doorway as something experts call an ‘event boundary’, signalling the end of one memory episode and the beginning of another.

And here I thought event boundaries had to do with party manners and social mores...
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When it comes to Obamacare, keep in mind what Obama's new nominee has in mind for us:

“The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open” — and, in progressive-speak, “The social budget is limited.” (Emphasis mine)

Oh, really? And how are all those folks on the public dole going to handle it when they get turned away from the emergency room for their cold and flu symptoms and free pregnancy tests?
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It sucks being a fiscal conservative these days, because I really am not crazy about any of the Republican candidates at the moment. That being said, William A. Jacobson penned a thoughtful post on why Newt Gingrich may end up being the best choice right now.
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Quick Stops

Do you drop off donations at local drop boxes? Make sure it's going to a charity, not a for-profit organization:

Though the drop-off boxes may look similar at first glance, only some are operated by charities. Other boxes are placed by commercial companies that may — or may not — donate some money to charity. And some of the charities involved don't meet the baseline standards of the Better Business Bureau or the Chicago-based American Institute of Philanthropy.

During a day's drive around the Chicago area, the Tribune spotted about 10 types of boxes that ran the gamut from collecting the clothes almost entirely to benefit charity (Salvation Army) to collecting the clothes purely for profit (USAgain).

Some of these non-profits will even take... and use even the most motley of your donations:

By government estimates, Americans throw 85 percent of their unwanted textiles in the trash each year. That may be, in part, because of a widespread perception that charities want only those items that can be resold in their thrift shops. While these are the most valuable donations, other castoffs can still make millions for charities on the secondary materials market, which includes selling used clothes in developing countries and recycling them for industrial uses.

So the Salvation Army's Maj. Mark Anderson stresses that he doesn't mind when people donate ripped jeans, stained shirts and coats with broken zippers.

"We want to receive any and all articles because, if we can't sell it in one of our stores, then we can sell it to what they call the 'rag market,'" Anderson said. "They can repurpose those textiles for anything from wiping rags or materials for new textiles to even as an additive to asphalt. (That revenue) is a big deal for us."

One of the oldest trades in the world, textile recycling today represents a nearly $1 billion business, according to the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles association (SMART), an industry trade group. Eric Stubin, president and CEO of Trans-America Textile Recycling Inc. in the New York City area, said many businesses work closely with charities to recycle clothes that can't be sold in domestic thrift stores. According to Stubin, used textiles unfit for resale in the U.S. can fetch up to 35 cents a pound.

See? You can feel good about even your flimsiest, ripped up, worn out our torn cast-offs.
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25 manners every child should know by age 9? I've met adults who haven't learned half of them.
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After reading this article, it's a wonder that anything other plain filtered water is good for you.

Sunday Schedule

This is an old clip from the Spike O'Dell show on WGN Radio of Gavin Coyle singing "Danny Boy."

I heard Gavin do this for the first time this morning on Dean Richards' Sunday Morning show, and just had to share it with you. Gorgeous!

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Whoohoo! They finally opened the Merchandise Mart to the general public! Get all the details on how to get in and how to get around here.

I'll be wandering that place over and over and over again, as there are a gazillion showrooms there.

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Go read this to understand why I'm so disappointed a trip to Ireland is not in my budget again this year.

Our crock of gold may have turned out to be a crock of s--t, but the very essence of our country — the beauty of our landscape, the richness of our history, the friendliness of our people — will never disappear. That landscape can’t be sold, our traditions and our history are eternal, our hospitality is an unwavering fact.

The land is magical and its people the warmest and most welcoming of anywhere I've ever been.

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Quote of the Day:

Did you notice the graceful winning?

Once again, Ms. Althouse nails it.

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If this is true, then I'll live a very long time and retain my marbles!

Sunday Schedule

Two of my childhood favorites in one!

Fabulous and equally as campy and preposterous as the originals!

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Apparently my recap of my 2010 reading list inspired my pal Mike to do the same. Oddly, there's not a romance or chick lit book in the bunch... (heh).

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I'm starting my 2011 Christmas list early. I want one of these...

... because it's true.

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There are two camera give-aways going on over at photofocus -- first, one for a Mamiya RZ67 Pro IID ProValue Pak film camera; second, for a Canon 5DMKII DSLR camera. The only hitch is you've got to Tweet to win.

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Finally, an alternative to simply warehousing Alzheimers sufferers:

Disregarding typical nursing-home rules, Beatitudes allowed Ms. Nance, 96 and afflicted with Alzheimer’s, to sleep, be bathed and dine whenever she wanted, even at 2 a.m. She could eat anything, too, no matter how unhealthy, including unlimited chocolate.

And she was given a baby doll, a move that seemed so jarring that a supervisor initially objected until she saw how calm Ms. Nance became when she rocked, caressed and fed her “baby,” often agreeing to eat herself after the doll “ate” several spoonfuls.

Dementia patients at Beatitudes are allowed practically anything that brings comfort, even an alcoholic “nip at night,” said Tena Alonzo, director of research. “Whatever your vice is, we’re your folks,” she said.

Sign me up right now.

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The Chicago mayoral race has certainly taken a turn for the weird with Carol Mosely Braun being considered the "unity candidate" for the black community in Chicago. (I'd really like to know what dirt they had on the actual poll leading Danny Davis to get him to back off.) Given Braun's history of demonstrably bad judgment, and the fact that Jesse Jackson's filthy fingerprints are all over this turn of events, I'm confident she'll do or say something -- and probably a lot of things -- to get herself blown right out of the race.

I find it sad that the black community leadership consistently puts forward the same deeply-flawed candidates who have only their own personal interests at heart. Trust me when I say that Jesse didn't make this happen for the good of the black community. He knows he can't get elected himself, so he's flagrantly working to become the power behind the throne.

In the meantime, the media has mostly missed out on this story of how the Latino community in Chicago is doing the exact opposite:

In a private room inside the upscale East Bank Club, a group of young Latino professionals that included staffers from several Chicago mayoral campaigns sat down recently to talk about a shared interest: power and how to get it.

Juan Rangel, co-chairman of Rahm Emanuel's mayoral bid and head of the influential United Neighborhood Organization, stood at the front of the room. Before him, he saw the next generation of Chicago's political leaders, corporate chieftains and cultural tastemakers.

As the city gears up to elect its first new mayor in 21 years, Rangel said Latinos are at a crossroads and, with his UNO colleagues, is preparing up-and-coming professionals for a place at the table, no matter who replaces Richard Daley.

"It's not about being altruistic; put that aside," Rangel, 45, told the 36 smartly dressed men and women who had gathered for a lesson in political hardball through UNO's Metropolitan Leadership Institute. "If you don't have power, you'll never get to first base."

Actually, the Illinois GOP should take a page or two right out of this playbook.
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A belated, but most Happy New Year to you all:

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Sunday Schedule

Once again, some entities are more equal than others in the eyes of the White House when it comes to Obama Care:

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If you live in NYC, you'd better make sure that either your pet stays indoors or it has a collar and tag or is microchipped... or your lost pet may be toast.

Hoffman said, by law, an unclaimed animal can be adopted out or euthanized after as little as 48 hours, although it usually takes longer than that.

Spread the word.
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Oooooo! Bacon-wrapped pork belly. Sounds fabulous.

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Movie Review of the Day:

The movie is imaginative, gripping and completely undone by an epilogue that is nothing short of bonkers.

Based on that quote alone, I might just have to see that movie.

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Quote of the Day:

“People don’t understand their purchases make a difference, and that by buying something that wasn’t exactly what you want, it gets you closer to what you want. It’s an investment.”

No, that wasn't President Tin-Ear... but I bet she voted for him!
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Giggle of the Day:

If you've ever been owned by a cat, you've witnessed this in real time.

Rules of the Road

If you do this, you, my friend, are such an addict that it's freaking sad:

Healless, a certified nurse's assistant at Fair Oaks Health Care Center in Crystal Lake, allegedly would enter the patient's room, roll her on her side, then poke holes in her fentanyl patch with a safety pin, Crystal Lake Deputy Police Chief Eugene Lowery said. The woman, who was mentally and physically incapacitated, didn't realize what he was doing, police said.

Healless would allegedly squeeze the fentanyl patch so the drug, a narcotic painkiller given to people in constant pain, would ooze out of the patch, and then he'd lick it off his fingers.

Eeew.
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If you must be addicted to something, make it reading blogs by really, really funny writers... like Momma Fargo, and not like her perp-of-the-day, DOODOO:

DOODOO: This takes a long time.

ME: Tell me about it.

DOODOO: doo..doo...doo...doo. [swayed back and forth]

ME: Jeopardy?

DOODOO: Yep. Help me out.

DOODOO: doo..doo...doo...doo.

ME: doo..doo...doo...doo

We swayed in unison. Pretty soon...

INTERCOM: [male voice] What are you guys doing?

ME: Jeopardy.

INTERCOM: This is jail. Be serious. Does he know where he is? Bubba's waiting for him.[laughing]

DOODOO: [whispers to me]Who is that?

ME: [whispered back] The Man.

DOODOO: Oh. How did he know what we were doing?

ME: The Man knows everything.

DOODOO: Oh.

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Why don't I drive anymore? I dunno. Maybe because...

A Tribune investigation at the time found that Cook County judges routinely granted supervisions to drivers who already had a dozen or more. In response, judges formed a committee to study limiting supervisions, but nothing came of it. New judges were trained to take traffic cases seriously, including a trip to meet people paralyzed from crashes, but they were given no limit on discretion.

Area courts kept issuing supervisions to chronic offenders, often wrapped in quick plea deals negotiated by harried prosecutors. The deal remained the norm for offenders such as Michael Walt.

He bragged online about all the tickets he'd gotten, including seven for speeding and three for crashes. He eventually garnered three convictions close enough together to trigger a license suspension, but his lawyer got a Kane County judge to turn two of them into supervisions.

Walt got his license back and in March 2004 was speeding nearly 70 mph in a 45-mph zone when he slammed into a car driven by Brant's 17-year-old daughter Krista at Ogden Avenue and 75th Street in Aurora. The crash killed Walt's girlfriend, Lindsey Kelber, and Brant's 15-year-old son, Matt. Krista Brant was seriously injured but recovered.

Walt was later convicted of speeding, fined $1,200, ordered to do 160 hours of community service and had his license revoked....

Walt told licensing officials he was a changed man, got his license back in 2007 and moved to Florida. He hasn't had any tickets since. He declined to comment.

Sorry. I don't feel safe on the road any more.

The police are doing their jobs, but the courts are falling down --WAY down -- on this.
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Bus Fumes

I'm sharing these, because if the top of my head threatens to pop off, yours should too:



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And, because it's been an interesting weekend:

In a state with the nation's highest jobless rate, landscaping companies are finding some job applicants are rejecting work offers so they can continue collecting unemployment benefits.

It is unclear whether this trend is affecting other seasonal industries. But the fact that some seasonal landscaping workers choose to stay home and collect a check from the state, rather than work outside for a full week and spend money for gas, taxes and other expenses, raises questions about whether extended unemployment benefits give the jobless an incentive to avoid work.

Yup. This is one of the reasons we've got so many "undocumented aliens" -- because they'll do the work that nobody else has to.

One former landscaper, who has been on unemployment for a year, said he will search for work when the benefits expire, but he estimates he earns about $50 to $60 less a week than he would if he were working.

"It's crazy," he said. "They keep doing all of these extensions."

Crazy? Yes, indeed.

(A tip of the cap to LibertyChick for the above goodies. If she'd spend the same amount of time posting as she did emailing this stuff to me, she'd have herself a dandy blog. (And it's no harder to paste a link into an email than it is to paste it into a blog post.) Hint, hint, hint!)

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And this ought to at least raise your eyebrows to your hairline:

Last week, the American Association of Pediatricians noted that certain, ahem, "immigrant communities" were shipping their daughters overseas to undergo "female genital mutilation." So, in a spirit of multicultural compromise, they decided to amend their previous opposition to the practice: They're not (for the moment) advocating full-scale clitoridectomies, but they are suggesting federal and state laws be changed to permit them to give a "ritual nick" to young girls.

We are opening the gates and welcoming the barbarians with open arms, ladies and gents.

Oh, yeah. The rest of that Mark Steyn article bears reading, too. The above paragraph 'tis but a wee pinch of the entire frightening message.

(A tip of the cap to the Advice Goddess.)
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Madam Speaker once again displays her utter disdain for the average tax payer:

(A tip of the cap to Paul, whose post title says it all.)

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So we have people who want to build manufacturing plants in Michigan, and this happens:

Safer and more long-lasting than conventional lithium-ion car batteries, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor's invention packs 600 cells into a case the size of an airplane carry-on bag. His technology has already transformed the batteries used in many cordless power tools.

So why are Chiang and his company, A123 Systems, having trouble moving to full-scale commercial production? The answer is a story of both the obstacles to a rebirth of U.S. manufacturing and of the tantalizing possibilities if such a rebirth could be achieved.

The obstacles are rooted in the sad history of manufacturing's decline in the United States: Despite the promise of Chiang's batteries, many in Wall Street and Silicon Valley were incredulous when he and other leaders at A123 asked for capital to build factories in America: Asia, yes, but Michigan, why would you want to?

Even more daunting, virtually all of the world's battery-manufacturing industry is in Asia, where plants can be built faster and supplies and equipment are much easier to get than in the United States. These days, it's hard to find Americans who even know how to build a battery factory.

When and how did we let this get so far away from us? And, even if we can build those plants, where will we find skilled labor willing to work for a reasonable hourly wage?

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One more thing: Whether Elena Kagan is a lesbian or not is nobody's business but hers.

To quote Mary Schmich:

If you're an unmarried woman over 40, you're probably gay.

If you are an unmarried woman over 40 carrying 15 extra pounds, you are totally gay.

If you are a stocky, unmarried woman of whatever age who plays softball — gay, gay, gay.

And if you're that woman who's also smarter than most of the boys? Beyond gay, sweetheart. You are scary.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the most narrow-minded, bigoted, craptacularly stupid line of thinking I have ever seen. Well, except that "smarter than most of the boys" "scary" bit. And that is also limited thinking. She's probably smarter than most of the boys and the girls.

As I wrote to a radio personality with whom I regularly diverge wildly on viewpoints, but agree with today:

I don't care if the Supreme Court candidate is or is not a woman, is or is not a lesbian, is or is not a person of color, is or is not a Christian. What I care about is whether or not [he or] she has the credentials to do the job. And I can't wait for the day when that is what people debate, not spending time and bile and ink and airtime on all this other stuff that either he or she can't change or is no one else's business.

Like Martin Luther King, Jr., I, too, have a dream.

P.S. -- I'm over 40, overweight, unmarried and I played softball around the same time Kagan did. Does that make me a lesbian, too?

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Rubber-Necking

Here's my question: Why on earth would anyone let this guy...

... anywhere NEAR anything that had to do with their personal nutrition or health?

Spray tan?-- check

Bad hair? -- check

Obvious plastic surgery? -- check

Questionable personal stylist? -- check

Terrible tailor? -- check

Certifiably bad taste? -- check

Run for your life!

Denver Boot

Yes, my left foot is indeed broken. I'm off this afternoon to the foot and ankle doc to get my very own tastefully stylish "Denver Boot"

Yeah. That's what I feel like about right now.

HOWEVER... I need a good story as to how this came about. Get creative in the comments, folks. And make alcohol only minimally a part of whatever great story you come up with. Surely you know me well enough by now to know that any could (and probably did) happen when it comes to moi. (And I've already told the boss it wasn't anything as exciting as landing wrong when I jumped down off the bar I was dancing on.)

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Update: Just to make this interesting, I'll take the winner of this here contest out drinking for a night. Even if that means I have to fly somewhere and book a hotel for myself. After all, I'm still overdue for a vacation.

I have the best and funniest readers on the planet. Knock yourselves out, will you?

Throwing a Tread

The X-Ray says "no," but Dr. Hot Stuff thinks I may indeed have thrown a tread in my left foot. MRI to come.

Wheels of Steel? Gotta get me some...

Drive-Bys

My daily greeter knows I have walnuts in my pocket with his name on them!
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Quote of the Day:

"They are very stealthy, those grapes," Solmor said. "They are small, they are round and they roll. ... They don't make a sound when they hit the floor."

*Snerk*
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In an effort to eat a little healthier, I bought a bag of Mariani Premium Mixed Fruit... and it's so delicious I went to their website and ordered this, this and this, too! The mixed fruit is really moist and chewy and wonderful -- especially the plums. (And since I usually loathe prunes, that I can type that without making an awful face is nothing short of a miracle.) I can't wait to try the rest.
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My great grandmother always insisted you had to eat a peck of dirt before you die. Apparently she was onto something:

A little dirt may be good for the heart.

Analyzing data collected from thousands of children over two decades in the Philippines, researchers have concluded that a healthy dose of germs and pathogens during infancy reduced cardiovascular inflammation in adulthood — a precursor to heart attacks and strokes.

"It raises the intriguing possibility that higher levels of exposure to infectious microbes early in life may, in some way, protect you against cardiovascular disease," said Thom McDade, 41, an associate professor of anthropology at Northwestern University who co-authored the study.

Go read the whole thing. And back away from the hand sanitizer...
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Oooh!



It's coming!
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Giggle of the Day (inspired by my itty bitty buddy):


see more Lolcats and funny pictures
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Ear Worm of the Day:

Drive-Bys

Dear Mr. Purportedly Homeless Guy --

Even The Homeless Guy says I shouldn't give to panhandlers. Following me too closely, getting too close to my purse and whining about being hungry only makes me want to get away from you as quickly as possible. Telling me you're a former University of Chicago professor who personally knows Barack Obama? Dude! That's the biggest turn-off of all. Go. Away. I don't need the reminder that we're all going to end up in your shoes after bankrupting ourselves with the health care bill that just passed thanks to your hero.

Sincerely,

Omnibus Driver
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Let the boys do their NCAA brackets. I'm doing the fashion fug brackets here, instead. Much mo bettah fun and far less stressful.
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Badly needed Giggle of the Day:


see more dog and puppy pictures
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You know the economy is really bad when A-list actors make C-list movies:

Director Michael Bay announced Monday that actors Frances "Fargo" McDormand and John "Being John Malkovich" Malkovich have been added to the cast of "Transformers 3" -- which has scheduled portions of filming in Chicago this summer.

Yeesh! How the mighty have fallen!
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Ear Worm of the Day:

Whoa!

Let me get this straight. We're going to be gifted with a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president who also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke.

What the hell could possibly go wrong?

(From Mr. Bill)
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see more Political Pictures

Sunday Schedule

Oooo! DWTS starts this week! (Just a guess, but Evan Lysacek and Chad Ochocino are going to be the hot contenders to beat.)

Interviews --

Cheryl on Chad

Louis on Niecy

Derek on Nicole

Anna on Evan

Evan Lysacek

Aidan Turner

Yay! I can't wait!

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Why am I happy I don't own a car any more? How about this, for a start?

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Quote of the Day:

"We are sick and tired of being sick and tired of our children being gunned down," said Louvenia Hood, of Mothers Opposed to Violence Everywhere. "It's time for this to stop."

I am sympathetic. However... here's the problem, as I see it: These kids are not being gunned down; they're gunning each other down. The problem starts in the home, and change also needs to start in the home. Standing in the street and praying in front of cameras won't fix anything; being present every day and parenting your own kids well will.

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I'm sorry, but $16 million would be better spent on teachers' salaries in this state right now. This is just one more example of governmental decision making processes that care more about pleasing "popular" agendas than actually fulfilling the mandate of educating children in this state. Oh, well. Dick and Jane may not be educated in Illinois, but, by golly, they'll be fashionably fit.

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The Illinois Democratic party moves on to the finals in Dem Lt. Governor Candidate Idol next Saturday. Too bad the voters can't vote online or text their votes for their favorites. Oh, wait! They did that already. Oops! My bad.

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"This legislation won't go into effect tomorrow."

Maybe not, but a dear friend of mine who works for the IRS informed me Friday night that the IRS has been champing at the bit to begin hiring not hundreds, but thousands, of new IRS agents to do nothing but ensure that businesses and individuals alike are complying with the new law, and that hiring will commence immediately on passage of the legislation. [Update: Here's more proof.]

Any way you look at either bill, it's the largest governmental power grab in the history of this country. Given that I'm already unhappy with this news: The five largest employers in the Chicago area are 1) the U.S. government; 2) Chicago public schools; 3) the City of Chicago; 4) the State of Illinois; and, 5) Cook County... and we can't afford any of them here at the moment... you can imagine my current level of disgust.

Mark my words -- we are about to get far more governmental intrusion into our lives and give up far larger portions of our paychecks than we ever thought possible.

Thank you, Mr. Boehner, for requesting a roll call vote. I want to know exactly who I will be working very hard to vote out of office in the next several elections.

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Bigger Models Make Women Feel Bad About Themselves, Too

[snip] The study did, however, come up with one icky way bigger models can be used to actually influence product sales: “if a normal-size woman sees moderately heavy images in ads for weight-loss products, she might feel overweight and be more inclined to buy a diet plan or gym membership.” Basically, use plus-sized models to make women feel bad enough about themselves that they spend more money on gym memberships and diet products. [The Cut]

What do you think? Do ads with bigger models make you feel better or worse about yourself?

When it's models like these, they just want to make me go shopping for one of everything in their catalog, because I know I'm going to look and feel wonderful... and that's good, because I'm already educated, unlike Dick and Jane.

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Yes, once upon a time I did Princess Idol. No, this wasn't me:

(Stick with this. It gets really... um... interesting... around the 1:20 mark.)

Seriously, I'd never do that to people.

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Programmed by elitists? And here I thought the Tea Party movement was full of booger-eating morons...

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Whoa! Mamacita is kicking butt and taking names:

I have already entered a zero for the midterm for each of you who blew it off. If you want that zero changed into something else, be bloody sure you get that test taken before your time is up. After I place your test in the Testing Center, the rest is entirely up to you. If you don’t get yourself up there, the zero stands.

If you allow that zero to stand, you will need to present yourself to the registrar to withdraw from the class. You’ll also be required to pay back your financial aid.

Sincerely, Professor Had-It-Up-To-Here with the lot of you.

P.S. Students who showed up on the proper day get bonus points, which will be added at the end of the semester. Also? These students rock. They’re awesome, while you’re. . . . well, never mind. It was an antonym. I hope you had a good time in Cancun.

Don't you wish she was your kid's prof?

Sunday Schedule

Swiped from my Barstool Blog Son, this is indeed my reaction to the iPad:

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Okay, okay -- I get the Hypocrite-in-Chief's fascination with the feisty health care activist who died of breast cancer and wants to be "buried" in an Obama tee-shirt. However, I take issue with the "had no health insurance" lie.

(And why the hell does he allude to people he holds up as examples without actually saying their names, dammit? He's certainly quick enough to use "I," "Me" and "My" when alluding to himself as a shining example. I find this irksome, to say the least.)

Anyhow, according to this article, Shouse had opted for a catastrophic healthcare policy with a $5,000 deductible.

When Melanie Shouse began feeling ill, eventually finding a lump in her breast, she couldn't afford a doctor. She and her partner had just used their savings to open a business.

A quick internet search yields the following information regarding catastrophic healthcare insurance:

How much can you afford to pay out of pocket for medical care? If you don’t have the money to afford your high deductible at a moment’s notice, like in the case of a car accident, this insurance isn’t right for you.

How broad do you want your health plan to be? ­Once you meet the deductible, catastrophic insurance will pay for all health care expenses deemed necessary.

... and...

Catastrophic Health Insurance Considerations

The reason you pay generally lower premiums with a high deductible health plan is that the health insurance company knows you'll pay for a larger portion of your costs if you need medical care. You will have to pay out-of-pocket for the majority of medical costs you incur before reaching your annual deductible. If the sole reason you choose a catastrophic health plan is to save money, you'll need to carefully weigh the benefits against the risks. If you're truly worried about money, will you be able to pay medical expenses until you meet your deductible? For example, if your annual deductible is $4,000 and you have emergency surgery that costs $5,000, you are required to pay $4,000 of that out-of-pocket, assuming you have not yet paid any of your deductible. The remaining $1,000 would be paid by your health insurance. Ask yourself if a lower monthly payment is worth the risk of paying your deductible or a large portion of it all at once.

Should You Get a High Deductible Health Plan?

If you're sure you can cover the deductible and want to save money on the monthly premiums, a high deductible health plan may make sense. If you qualify for an HSA or other tax-exempt medical savings account and can contribute the deductible amount, you may have an easy way to pay your out-of-pocket medical costs while saving on premiums. Most people who consider catastrophic health insurance either are getting their own health insurance for the first time or are nearing retirement. The younger group tends to be less likely to incur medical expenses because they are young and healthy, while the older group tends to have enough money to pay for most medical care unless they experience a serious illness or emergency. Typically, high deductible health plans provide the most benefit to those who don't require frequent prescriptions or office visits.

Shouse was not an uneducated rube who couldn't have found and processed this information easily:

Ms. Shouse grew up in Indiana, graduated from high school in Plano, Texas, and then from Texas A&M University with a major in biology.

In her own words, Ms. Shouse said:

Four years ago, at age 37, I was an entrepreneur struggling to grow my small business, and only able to afford a catastrophic health insurance policy with co-pays and deductibles nearing ten thousand dollars. I had to take the ultimate risk with my health in order to chase the American Dream, like so many small business owners in America today. So when I first felt a small lump, denial seemed the only option available to me. [Snip]

In October 2005, I was forced to admit reality by walking into Siteman Cancer Center for the dreaded diagnosis. But by this time, the cancer had spread throughout my body to bone, lungs and liver. It was now classified as Stage 4 breast cancer, the kind you don't recover from. My chance of survival was pegged at just 13% as a result of the delay in diagnosis and treatment caused by inadequate health coverage.

My worries were not limited to my health, however. I had no savings and no real assets to cover the monumental costs associated with these expensive treatments. And with this prize-winning pre-existing condition, I had no opportunity to seek a better private health plan, as I was now shut out of the market. Having no other choice, I quickly turned to our public Missouri Medicaid program, and within days I received this Medicaid card that would help save my life. Now I could walk into one of the top cancer centers in the world right up the street here and receive top-notch care without having to sell a kidney to cover the insurance deductible!

My treatment commenced post haste, and I am standing here today thanks to the Missouri Medicaid program, and the federal Medicare program for which I became eligible after a two-year waiting period. These efficient and effective public health plans have enabled me to receive some of the best cutting-edge care in the world, equivalent to the coverage our Senators and Congressmen enjoy, without ever having to wait or worry.

So... she chose to invest her entire savings in a risky business venture, knowingly opting for insurance with a high deductible when she knew damned well she couldn't afford the deductible, she neglected to go to the doctor at the first sign that there was a lump in her breast, and, when she finally did get around to getting help, got top-notch treatment, most of which was covered by the state and the federal government.

If she'd gone when she first noticed the lump in her breast, she might have gotten the same government-subsidized coverage, and, maybe, her story would have had an entirely different end. That's a shame.

The problem here is not that she didn't have insurance coverage. She did. The problem is that she refused to get herself help in a timely manner, and then expected to receive every single medical treatment in the world, whether it was worthwhile or not, to be made available to her. By her own admission, she received the same level of coverage as senators and congressmen enjoy, and that still wasn't good enough. What more could she have wanted? A blank check? That's simply not realistic.

Do I wish her ill and am I glad she's gone? Absolutely not.

Do I hope that people considering opening their own business use her as a cautionary tale and carefully weigh the cost of healthcare before gambling with their own life savings? Absolutely.

Should those of us that choose not to take the same calculated risks be responsible for rescuing those that do and fail? I don't think so.

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I just received the funniest shipping confirmation of all time:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, February 6, 2010.

We hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. In commemoration, we have placed your picture on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sigh...

We miss you already. We'll be right here at http://cdbaby.com/, patiently awaiting your return.
--
CD Baby
The little store with the best new independent music.
http://cdbaby.com cdbaby@cdbaby.com (503)595-3000

(I ordered this, by Patti's daughter. Can't wait to be able to play the whole thing!)

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Take the word "Black" out of the title, and this is good advice for anybody.

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More later...

Saturday Ramblings

I don't care how many people think Chicken Little is a great speaker, when he's not using his teleprompter and is speaking off-the-cuff, he's not.

He started out basically taunting the GOP, "I told you people I'd listen to your pitiful, uncooperative selves, so do your best. Bring it, bitches!"

And, when confronted over several of his questionable propositions, responded, "I am not an ideologue. I'm not."

Jeebus! He did everything but waive his little fist and stamp his little foot.

I've got news for him -- he is an ideologue, and a whiney one, at that.

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Just how broke is Illinois? REALLY broke.

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When you start touting just how wonderful Canada's healthcare is, think about this little horror story:

If you’re a Canadian woman, and you’ve had surgery, you might have been been given – while you were under anesthetic, without your knowledge, without your consent – a pelvic exam by medical students in training. It is, apparently, standard practice in Canada, and no, they don’t actually want to ask for your consent, because you might not give it. So they’ve settled for insisting that when you go in for surgery, you’ve implied that you consent to letting them do anything to your body that they like.

Is this something women in the U.S. might have to look forward to under Obama care?

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Want a fabulous example of democratic politics in Chicago?

The inaccuracies of the flier – stating the Preckwinkle supported the unpopular parking meter sale – are irrelevant, Carter says.

“If she didn’t do that, she did something else bad against the people,” he says.

Never forget that this was Chicken Little's training ground.

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For literate sports lovers in Chicago -- Chicago Sports in Haiku. Heh.

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Fabulous take on broadcast news:

Gleefully swiped from Allen.

Pesky Technical Issues

Dear Advocates, Following a Republican victory in Massachusetts’ special Senate election last week, the future path of healthcare reform is considerably less clear. Republican state Senator Scott Brown’s election to the Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat held by the late Senator Edward Kennedy means that Democrats no longer have a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority needed to advance legislation in the Senate – causing the Democratic leadership to weigh various options for proceeding. At this time, Democrats appear to be considering several possible paths. One is to push forward on a comprehensive bill similar to that passed by the Senate, with some additional changes to make it acceptable to House Democrats (e.g., closing the Medicare drug “donut hole”, increasing subsidies for low income families, giving unions a 5 year delay in the high value insurance plan tax). Another is scaling back pending reform bills and including less controversial provisions that could possibly garner bipartisan support. These include tax credits to help small businesses provide coverage to their workers and new rules prohibiting insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. However, a scaled-back bill would likely remove the personal responsibility requirement from proposed insurance reforms, which would enable people to wait until they are too sick to purchase coverage. This would result in higher premiums for everyone and run counter to reform goals. Democratic leadership has emphasized that no decisions have been made. On January 27, the President will give his State of the Union address, where he is expected to give his views on how the Congress should go forward on healthcare reform.

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Get Health Reform Right · 1718 M Street, NW · Washington, DC 20036

Drive-Bys

The Daily Douche Bag:

Just when you thought John Edwards couldn't possibly be any douchier, he goes and out-douches himself. Again:

In an excerpt from his upcoming interview with ABC News's Bob Woodruff, Young alleges that Edwards asked him to arrange a fake a paternity test.

"Get a doctor to fake the DNA results," Young said Edwards told him. "And he asked me ... to steal a diaper from the baby so he could secretly do a DNA test to find out if this [was] indeed his child."

Seriously? This guy is a contender for Douche Bag of the Decade... and the decade has only just begun. C'mon -- he's a Dumpster-Diving for Diaper DNA Douche Bag... and you can't sink much lower than that.

There is, however, one more shining example of parenting douche baggery in today's Chicago Tribune:

Police allege that the suspect's father and brother tried to bribe the victim's father, the target of the shooting, not to cooperate so that authorities would be forced to drop the shooting charges. The victim's father alerted police, who eventually arrested Vincente and Hector Herrera.

Gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling, no? Yes, the Herrara boys are all douche bags.
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Quite possibly the funniest positive restaurant review I've read in a while:

The thought kept crossing my mind: Why have you been shopping at Aldi, trying to decide between 75 percent lean garbage and 80 percent lean garbage?

Oh, yeah, I remember. The money thing.

The O'Neil's burger is actually 75 percent Kobe, with the rest consisting of chopped up bits of regular steak, mostly of the skirt variety.

I asked Chef Martin Rebollar how come, and he said something about different kinds of beef fat in combination blah blah blah chef stuff flavor profile blah blah more chef stuff. Then he smiled and turned around and cooked a flat pink thing.*

Go read the entire thing. You'll be drooling in between guffaws.
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Jerry Philipson wants to know if Obama can change and save his presidency.

Hmmmmm....

Obama says he "gets it" after Scott Brown's stunning victory in Massachusetts -- that the voting public is angry and frustrated.

Oh, really?

He hasn't given up on that massive pile of steaming dung that is his Health Care Plan; he's simply giving Congress time to regroup and resharpen their knives... and their pencils.

He doesn't get that the people who are voting with their feet in Tea Parties are against more and bigger government, yet the Sage One rolls out two new tee-riffic new initiatives:

• He wants to nationalize student lending; and,
• He is trying to bypass the states and nationalize education funding.

He's having a public hissy fit because McCain/Feingold was overturned by the Supremes. Ooo! The Horror! First Amendment rights are actually upheld!

Where was I? Oh, yeah -- that hopey/changey thing. Nope. We can hope, but he won't change.

P.S. -- We're pissed about lack of jobs and he's worried about nationalizing student lending and nationalizing education and whatever other empire building stuff he can come up with and McCain/Feingold getting folded, spindled and mutilated by the Supremes? NO. He doesn't get it.
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Giggle of the Day:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures
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NEW Giggle of the Day?

When an aide informed Pelosi of Brown’s win around 9 p.m. Tuesday, the speaker summoned her leadership team to her office at the Capitol, ejected her staff and attacked her options as if her career depended on it.

It does. Yay!

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*Yes, that "pink thing" reminded me of the Princess Mom and the infamous Pineapple Ham Loaf.

Quick Stop

Oh, for crap's sake, you people in the media just don't get it, do you?

1. Health care reform is not popular. We want it. We just don't want that piece of crap the House and Senate tried to cram down our throats.

2. The stimulus and TARP bailouts are not popular. Okay, I'll give you that one. Let crappy businesses fail, and let people who can't afford the home YOU think they should own, but THEY can't afford, go back to renting... like me (who actually could afford to buy, but chooses to live more frugally).

3. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not popular. Pick one. Commit. Fucking win one.

But, hey? What do I know?

Back To Work

Now that Scott Brown has been elected, I hope the GOP in office make it their business to refute the premise that everyone hates health care reform.

In fact, most of us truly desire health care reform, just not that gargantuan pile of crap that the Dems are trying to ram through with zero transparency, and at a huge cost to everyone.

It's time for the boys and girls in the GOP roll up their sleeves and fix the current health care mess, one issue at a time before adding anything additional to the mix, and do it in a true bipartisan manner in the clear light of day.

If nothing else, Brown's victory in Massachusetts should be a message not only to the Dems, but also to the GOP that the voting public is not happy and are ready, willing and demonstrably able to select new representation if their elected representatives at every level don't pay attention.

Brown's victory is the beginning of the journey, not the end, by any stretch of the imagination.