October 11, 2013

Fun with the ACA ( hilarious comment section )

There are some enlightening ones, but many are funny.. I did not watch the video, but have enjoyed reading the comments.., especially from out of the US.. and a few republican shills


http://gawker.com/applying-for-health-insurance-before-and-after-obamaca-1442651978

October 9, 2013

My ONLY gripe about the ACA is that they did not use the 3 year lead time well.

The SECOND it survived SCOTUS, there should have been an announcement about PRE-REGISTERING online:

It should have been done at the STATE level (for states that were "friendly), and nationally for those that were NOT..

The "NOT" state registrations should have been run through MULTIPLE websites by alphabet.. and later aggregated by region/age group/whatever criteria they needed..

By preregistering, all this sign-up nightmare could have been eliminated, because the people could have had accounts created well in advance of the actual roll-out, and the 6 month lead-in period would have been for the specifics of which plan they wanted.

A unique customer-ID-number could have been created, and people could easily log in and out of their account to check on their status.

The very fact the Experion is being used is a problem for me, because MANY of the people who NEED the coverage are also the very ones whose low income may have led them into financial difficulties with any of the credit checkers, and some may be afraid to "stir up trouble" for themselves.

I know that actual credit checks are NOT necessarily part of the registration, but just the names : Experion/TransUnion/etc is enough to conjure up bad feelings for many...especially the ones who were slammed from 2008 to the present.

When the rubber meets the road, and people actually start using their coverage, there will be more glitches, but the origination of accounts could have been handled smoothly, and would have yielded a real-time accounting of usable "numbers"...especially from the NOT compliant states

October 4, 2013

"...they're sayin' the same thing in private, as publicly..." THIS is the important part

of the "all mic'ed up" moment between Rand & the turtle.

Republicans NEVER say the same things in public, as they do to their secretive inner circles or when they think only their base is listening..(Macaca....47% ...etc)

The fact that dems say the same things to friend or foe, because it's the verifiable truth is the important nugget in that "oopsie" moment... and during that moment Rand is bragging about how he's putting one over on CNN and how they are having a Charlie Sheen success by repeating ridiculous talking points.

In ALL the "reporting" of this episode, I have not heard even ONE prompter-reader focus on the fact that there is no duplicity on our side.

October 2, 2013

No lifeboat.

It's high time the GOP has to actually suffer for their intransigence.


I hope all the elected dems turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the GOP as they twist in the wind.

It's also time for us to add some "misery" to their little buffet.

We should add to any further legislation, a provision that makes payment of debts AUTOMATIC (like it used to be).


If something is legislated, it's guaranteed to be paid for, with NO further legislating necessary...same for raising the limit.

The budget process needs to be put back to the way it used to be as well..

Appropriation committees should have a finite amount of time to reconcile the budget sent EVERY YEAR by the White House. If it's not ALL finished by a certain date, NO OTHER legislation can take place....except for disaster relief.

October 1, 2013

Damn it to hell. New website off to a bumpy start.. bad planning?

GOTCHA !!!



'Grand Theft Auto Online' off to a bumpy start
NBCNews.com - ?41 minutes ago?


Two weeks after "Grand Theft Auto V" was released to critical acclaim and record-breaking sales, its highly anticipated online counterpart, "GTA Online" arrived Tuesday morning. But some gamers were not able to easily start their engines.

Last week, GTA creator and developer Rockstar Games warned players that "GTA Online's" launch would be chaotic because of a greater-than-expected demand for "GTA V," which sold more than 13 million copies its first day, and created "unanticipated" pressure on the multiplayer game, the company said. Less than a day into "GTA Online," and it looks like Rockstar was right: countless gamers have taken to Twitter and "GTA" forums online to complain while they wait for the new game to get up and running.

"7 hours later still haven't managed to get GTA online working," one disgruntled fan wrote on Twitter Tuesday afternoon. Rockstar took to Twitter Tuesday morning warning about "day one tech issues" and asked fans to "please bear w/ us." Launch-day issues are nothing new for the video game industry, which has long supported massively multiplayer online (MMO) gaming environments in one form or another, many of which host more simultaneous players than the 16 that Rockstar allotted for in a given game of "GTA Online."

snip

October 1, 2013

"Hello Ladies"?? Really, HBO?

Wow, what a disappointment.. When I saw it was a half-hour comedy, I wondered about it..and when I watched it, I found I was right..

Characters are icky..plot..nonexistent..It looks like an old BBC show that PBS used to foist on us with regularity when they could not get good shows..

September 27, 2013

Pick a law...any law .. (R's not wanting to fund a "program")

They call it a "bill"...a "program"...a "policy".., andf they seem to think they can avoid paying for it by holding everything else hostage..

Let's take it a step further..

MOST Americans are against the excessive military and all its wars & fancy killing toys.. why not threaten to not fund THAT?

or

Why not go whole-hog and not fund the IRS?

or

Laws are laws..they are not up for debate.. That time has passed..

When you do not agree with a law, you are pretty much stuck with grumbling, but little else..(try arguing with a cop who's arresting you for breaking a LAW)

September 26, 2013

The Republican party HAS the capacity & mechanism to "off-load" the teabag people

All that has to happen is for the GOP officials to declare that teabag people will no longer be able to claim the "R" when they choose to run.. They CALL themselves "Tea Party", so make them BE a party...

They already, effectively, run AGAINST fellow-republicans..

These "wackobirds" are not acquiescent team players like the religious right, or the anti-abortion folks, or even the xenophobic right.

These people are "bomb-throwers", who loathe government, even while they campaign their hearts out to BE government. They are saboteurs, eager and able to hobble even the republican aspirations of their fellow congresspeople/senators.

The GOP has been shrinking for decades, and a split would surely hurt their chances of winning nationally for a while, but that's happening already, and it only makes the radical, reactionary teabag people MORE dangerous.

If republicans EVER want to have ANY redemption, they MUST jettison these wackobirds, and make them run as what they truly are... They are hired guns, lobby-puppets, and are just "in it" for self-aggrandizement, future lobby jobs, fox news shows, and to hobble government at the expense of fellow citizens.

They are unworthy of "belonging" to any establishment party.


The GOP is already a regional/fringe party to some degree, and the invasion of the teabag people is only making them more toxic.

September 19, 2013

2016 interactive map is up and running...

http://www.270towin.com/

September 17, 2013

Post-massacre analysis of shooters is useless

because we cannot/will not, as a nation, make any changes that could prevent future massacres.

There will always be unhinged people, unhappy people, vengeful people, mentally ill people, and just plain evil people.

We can NEVER fully "protect" ourselves from someone going off the deep-end and causing mayhem.

We are not willing to remove their weapons, or to commit them (they can get out on their own recognizance after 72 hours, usually).

Media goes apeshit every time one of these happens and they talk & talk & wring their hands, and trot out all their experts, and in the end, we just wait until the next one and it starts all over again.

Chris Matthews just called it "the dark side of freedom"..

It's money..

(lack of) Money prevents many people from getting the real mental health care they need
Money is generated (for media) from the additional coverage
Money is made by politicians who always get a transfusion from the NRA immediately following these massacres
Ad agencies rake in the dough creating ads for each "side" (killers v non-killers? )
Money gets spent big time on overtime for emergency people in each event
Money gets spent afterwards on extra, new-fangled security plans , devices & training..

and then we wait for the next one.