This property guarded by pit bulls three days a week -- You guess which three
I'll leave you to wonder which of teh 12 kittehz fall into which cat-e-gory.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Fortunately,
most of mine prefer touchy-feely. And like the yard sign that says
I'll leave you to wonder which of teh 12 kittehz fall into which cat-e-gory.
I'll leave you to wonder which of teh 12 kittehz fall into which cat-e-gory.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Woman's best friend's best friend
The dog and I were on our way home from the park the other day, when we saw a woman out walking with her big black dog, the biggest, shiniest, blackest Great Dane I've ever seen. Handsome guy, but I gotta tell ya, Shetland ponies aren't as big as this dog.
Trotting along in front of them was the shiniest, blackest, best-turned-out little Scottie I've ever seen.
Trotting along in front of them was the shiniest, blackest, best-turned-out little Scottie I've ever seen.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Dominoes 7 [and last]
And now for my capstone post in the series!
dominoes 2009
Wonderful time-wasters, these domino videos,
but now it's time to move on.
And because I wandered off into domino land solely because of FlippyCat and because I think this is the most adorable cat video evar, here it is again.
dominoes 2009
Wonderful time-wasters, these domino videos,
but now it's time to move on.
And because I wandered off into domino land solely because of FlippyCat and because I think this is the most adorable cat video evar, here it is again.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
[for reference]
upcoming blue dog town halls:
Tuesday, 8-11-09, 7pm
Adam Schiff, Alhambra, CA
Tuesday, 8-11-09, 7pm
Adam Schiff, Alhambra, CA
WhenTue, August 11, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
WhereAlhambra Civic Center Library, Community Room, 101 S. First St., Alhambra, CA 91801 (map)
DescriptionIMPORTANT! PLEASE ATTEND! Schiff is a BLUE DOG who SUPPORTS the public option. Please attend and support/encourage him to work the Blue Dogs rear flank.
more details» copy to my calendar
Wednesday, 8-12-09, 6pm
Joe Donnelly, Kokomo, IN
Wednesday, 8-12-09, 6pm
Joe Donnelly, Kokomo, IN
WhenWed, August 12, 6pm – 8pm
WhereInventrek Technology Park,Auditorium, 700 E.Firmin St., Kokomo, IN 46902 (map)
more details» copy to my calendar
Saturday, 8-15-09, 10am
David Scott, Jonesboro, GA
Saturday, 8-15-09, 10am
David Scott, Jonesboro, GA
WhenSat, August 15, 10am – 2pm
WhereMundy's Mill High School, 9652 Fayetteville Road, Jonesboro, GA 30238 (map)
DescriptionHealth Care District Health Fair
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
of Gods and Goddesses and single p[r]ayer health care
God
Anthony Weiner is God. And so is Henry Waxman. And so is Nancy Pelosi.
So, on Medicare's 44th birthday, not even the Republicans could bring themselves to vote to do away with that evul guvmint-run health care. And, they're actually going to vote on single payer.
If you haven't been following the Weiner amendment saga, you can play catch up here.
Anthony Weiner is God. And so is Henry Waxman. And so is Nancy Pelosi.
Seeking to dampen liberal anger about deals cut with centrists, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said House leaders have agreed to allow a floor vote on a government-run, single-payer system.
"A lot of members on our committee want a vote on that," said Waxman said in an interview. "I believe their wishes will be accommodated."
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) offered a single-payer amendment in the Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday, but withdrew it after Waxman said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had promised a floor vote.
So, on Medicare's 44th birthday, not even the Republicans could bring themselves to vote to do away with that evul guvmint-run health care. And, they're actually going to vote on single payer.
If you haven't been following the Weiner amendment saga, you can play catch up here.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
[for scarecrow]
the database gods still won't me comment here, so i'll try it here...
medicare admin -- depends how you want to calculate it.
from the latest medicare trustees report [these are somewhat interim numbers, i'm informed, but they're not usually too far off from what cms calculates later in the year], pg 11: in 2008 medicare took in $480.8 billion, paid $461.6 billion in benefits [doctors, hospitals, drugs, etc], and paid $6.5 billion in admin costs. that's 96% going to care, 1.4% going to admin costs, and 2.6% staying in the trust fund[s].
distortions: how much is crap like this costing us, all told? you could get a phd studying just that one question. and the 'practicing medicine without a license' aspect of it... grrrrrr. i worked for a few years as a middle-person: buying and selling, negotiating contracts between me and vendors, me and subcontractors, me and customers/clients [from sole proprietors on up to multinationals], in wide-open, not-very-regulated fields -- if it's an atmosphere you've never worked in, it's almost impossible to imagine all the permutations. i could go on at length, but will refrain from inflicting that on you. :)
fee-for-service: canada, japan, france, all have lots of ffs in their systems, and lots of solo docs or small group practices, probably more than we do. the difference is that they charge so much less for each service that you can have lots and lots of services for an overall reasonable cost. i don't know as much about other countries [i think germany has more managed care / large group practices like the us does, but don't know for sure].
more on payment methods from steffie woolhandler and david himmelstein.
i get what you're saying about the provider side, but if insurance companies are either jacking around the providers, or colluding with them, on prices and payments, then you no way can you estimate the impact of trying to take a chunk out of the providers' hides to pay for reforms. put a choke collar and short leash on the insurers first [and none of the proposed bills do this, so far, in this regard], and then maybe you can talk about 'incentivizing' physicians to do 'better' [although the vast majority of doctors go into medicine because they want to help people, so they're not really the ones who need 'incentives'].
some stuff about france's system [i would dearly love to have their system, but i'll happily settle for canada's].
medicare admin -- depends how you want to calculate it.
from the latest medicare trustees report [these are somewhat interim numbers, i'm informed, but they're not usually too far off from what cms calculates later in the year], pg 11: in 2008 medicare took in $480.8 billion, paid $461.6 billion in benefits [doctors, hospitals, drugs, etc], and paid $6.5 billion in admin costs. that's 96% going to care, 1.4% going to admin costs, and 2.6% staying in the trust fund[s].
distortions: how much is crap like this costing us, all told? you could get a phd studying just that one question. and the 'practicing medicine without a license' aspect of it... grrrrrr. i worked for a few years as a middle-person: buying and selling, negotiating contracts between me and vendors, me and subcontractors, me and customers/clients [from sole proprietors on up to multinationals], in wide-open, not-very-regulated fields -- if it's an atmosphere you've never worked in, it's almost impossible to imagine all the permutations. i could go on at length, but will refrain from inflicting that on you. :)
fee-for-service: canada, japan, france, all have lots of ffs in their systems, and lots of solo docs or small group practices, probably more than we do. the difference is that they charge so much less for each service that you can have lots and lots of services for an overall reasonable cost. i don't know as much about other countries [i think germany has more managed care / large group practices like the us does, but don't know for sure].
more on payment methods from steffie woolhandler and david himmelstein.
i get what you're saying about the provider side, but if insurance companies are either jacking around the providers, or colluding with them, on prices and payments, then you no way can you estimate the impact of trying to take a chunk out of the providers' hides to pay for reforms. put a choke collar and short leash on the insurers first [and none of the proposed bills do this, so far, in this regard], and then maybe you can talk about 'incentivizing' physicians to do 'better' [although the vast majority of doctors go into medicine because they want to help people, so they're not really the ones who need 'incentives'].
some stuff about france's system [i would dearly love to have their system, but i'll happily settle for canada's].
Saturday, July 25, 2009
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