Happy HUMP day, Everyone. Hope you’re enjoying Mr. Bowie this week.
CHANGES…
“Changes” is a song by David Bowie, originally released on the album Hunky Dory in December 1971 and as a single in January 1972. Despite missing the Top 40, “Changes” became one of Bowie’s best-known songs. The lyrics are often seen as a manifesto for his chameleonic personality, the frequent change of the world today, and frequent reinventions of his musical style throughout the 1970s.[1] This single is cited as David Bowie’s official North American debut, despite the fact that the song “The Man Who Sold the World” was released in North America two years prior.[2] This is the last song Bowie performed live on stage before his retirement from live performances at the end of 2006.[3]
BREAKING: The Boston Red Sox have won the World Series!
Go, Boston!
GO SOX!!
Yes!
Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Out-Journalisms CBS News on Florida Woman’s Junk Insurance
by Tommy Christopher | 8:18 pm, October 29th, 2013
Earlier today, Newsbusters outclassed most of the mainstream media by being honest about Obamacare, and now, The Washington Post‘s Erik Wemple points out that Fox News has actually outclassed CBS News by partially correcting Jan Crawford‘s misleading report about a Florida woman who is unhappy about the new plan she’s being offered under Obamacare, at ten times the price of her old plan. Slow clap for conservative media today.
Granted, the aforementioned outclassing occurred under the watch of the more independent-minded Greta Van Susteren, but Fox is Fox, it counts. As I reported yesterday, Crawford’s report omitted loads of key information, including the fact that 56 year-old Dianne Barrette’s old insurance plan barely even qualifies as insurance, paying only $50 toward most of the small list of covered services (Dianne pays the rest), and offering exactly zero coverage for hospitalization. Crawford also failed to mention that, based on her age and income, Barrette’s new plan would actually cost her about $209 a month, not $591.
Greta teed up the interview using the same setup as Crawford’s piece, that Barrette is “finding out she will have to pay 10 times as much for health insurance” because “she is losing her current plan to Obamacare.”
“I have a copy of your Florida Blue insurance and it’s about $54 a month,” Greta continued, “and now I understand that under Obamacare, it’s going to go up, at least they said that the policy they would offer you under Florida Blue, would be $591; is that correct?”
Actually, the plan BCBSFL was only one of many plans Dianne has to choose from, 10 of which are cheaper than that $591, and based on her income, she’d only pay around $209 a month, but Greta did cut right to the chase about the quality of her old plan.
“Your $54 a month policy is a pretty, you know, bare bones policy, “Greta said. “Why do you want to keep that one, except for the price? Maybe you can get something better with a subsidy?”
“Well, I know it doesn’t cover lengthy hospital stays,” Barrette replied, adding “It’s perfect for what I want. I get co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions. So it suffices what I need. Also, the price isn’t too bad either.”
Her $54 plan actually doesn’t have copays for doctor visits and prescriptions. It pays $50 toward covered doctor’s visits, Dianne pays the rest, and $15 toward prescriptions, Dianne pays the rest. As for hospitalization, Greta again went where CBS did not, and actually asked about it.
“Well, does it pay for any hospitalization, the current policy you have?” Greta asked.
“Again, I’m a little confused about it,” Barrette answered. “I have been reading over and over the policies, and it appears that it does cover some outpatient, but when you go through the booklet they sent, it would say refer to this, refer to it but then refer back to… it was very confusing.”
Actually, it doesn’t cover any hospital stays, unless Dianne suffers complications from pregnancy. Then, it pays fifty bucks. It doesn’t cover any outpatient care, except for mammography, osteoporosis screening, diabetes self-management, and complications from pregnancy. For that handful of services, the plan pays $50, and Dianne pays the rest.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-news-greta-van-susteren-out-journalisms-cbs-news-on-florida-womans-junk-insurance/
Behind Roar of Politics, Whispers of Race Persist
By JOHN HARWOOD
Published: October 30, 2013
WASHINGTON — President Obama last week sought to turn attention from health care to immigration — in other words, from one racially divisive issue to another.
Whites tend to hold negative views of Obamacare, while blacks tend to like it. Specifically, 55 percent of whites, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found this year, consider Mr. Obama’s health care law a bad idea, while 59 percent of blacks call it a good idea. On immigration, 51 percent of whites oppose legal status for illegal residents, but 63 percent of blacks and 76 percent of Hispanics favor it.
The statistics mirror the core philosophical division in Washington’s fierce battles over taxes, spending and debt. Whites say government does too much, while blacks and Hispanics say it should do more to meet people’s needs.
Those attitudes, and the continued growth of the nonwhite population, have produced this sometimes-overlooked result: American politics has grown increasingly polarized by race, as well as by party and ideology.
That reality promises to command increasing attention as the day draws closer when whites will no longer make up a majority of the nation’s population, which the Census Bureau projects will be in 2043.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/us/politics/behind-roar-of-politics-whispers-of-race-persist.html?_r=0
Kanye West Challenges Michelle Obama to Instagram a Sexy Kim Kardashian–Style Selfie
October 30, 2013 by Yesha Callahan
……………
You know what. Kanye apparently is delusional as f*ck. President Obama isn’t the one begging Vogue to put his baby-momma on the cover. Last time I checked, the Flotus has already graced the sought after magazine. Kim Kardashian on the other hand? Has not.
I’m not sure why Kanye is attempting to become a fashion icon. First he had his hissy fit over his leather jogging pants idea that was shot down by major fashion houses. Yeah, it’s probably because anyone can get a pair off of eBay now for less than $200.
In any event, once Kanye realizes he’s not worthy to even be in the same room as the First Family, the better off we’ll all be.
http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2013/10/kanye-west-challenges-michelle-obama-instagram-sexy-kim-kardashian-style-selfie/comment-page-1/#comments
Michelle Obama Responds to Kanye West’s Recent Comments
By Rembert Browne on October 30, 2013 4:30 PM ET
Kanye West recently spoke to Ryan Seacrest about a number of things. Here’s one of the things he said.
There’s no way Kim Kardashian shouldn’t be on the cover of Vogue. She’s like the most intriguing woman right now. She’s got Barbara Walters calling her like everyday … and collectively we’re the most influential with clothing. No one is looking at what [President] Obama is wearing. Michelle Obama cannot Instagram a [bikini] pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day … so it’s to say when we are there and [editor-in-chief of French Vogue] Carine Roitfeld supports my girl, that’s a breakthrough … there’s a wall of classism that we are breaking through.”
I can only imagine this is what Michelle Obama had to say in response.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/91169/michelle-obama-responds-to-kanye-wests-recent-comments
Kanye need to go sit his black ass down and shut.the.fuck.up.!
Senator Will File A Lawsuit Forcing His Staff To Pay More For Health Insurance
By Igor Volsky on October 30, 2013 at 5:20 pm
he LA Times’ Mike Memoli reports that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) will file a lawsuit to prevent Congressional staffers and lawmakers from receiving subsidies when they purchase coverage in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges, substantially increasing their health care costs.
Under current law, lawmakers and some of their aides will be required to drop their existing health care coverage in the tax-subsidized Federal Health Benefits Program (FEHB) and enroll in the insurance exchanges at the core of the health law beginning on Oct 1. Though Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — the author of the amendment responsible for the shift — had initially stipulated that Congressional employees “use their existing employer contribution” to buy insurance, the final law did not specifically mention the role of the employer, leaving regulators concerned that the language could prohibit the government from contributing to the insurance costs of Congressional employees and leave poorly-paid aides responsible for the full cost of coverage.
…………………………………..
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and the Democrats (and Congressional staffers), strongly opposed the change and it was eventually dropped. “Okay. Go after members of Congress. But even doing that. Now, I can handle if I have to buy insurance without employer contribution. But some of my senators can’t,” Reid told the Huffington Post shortly after the shutdown ended. “Forget about that. Forget about senators. They can do okay. But staff — we have staff people of [Sen.] Susan Collins. She has people who work in Maine and make $25,000 a year. One of the reasons you can get somebody like that is that you give them health care. … How in good conscience could you do something like that?”
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/30/2863561/senator-file-lawsuit-increase-health-care-costs-congressional-staffers/
New York Bus Driver Darnell Barton Saves Woman From Bridge Ledge (VIDEO)
Posted: 10/30/2013 1:55 pm EDT
Earlier this month, a Buffalo, N.Y., bus driver went above and beyond the call of duty to keep a stranger out of harm’s way.
On October 18, 37-year-old Darnell Barton was driving a bus full of McKinley High School students on the Scajaquada Expressway overpass when he spotted a woman on the wrong side of the guard rail.
“It didn’t seem real because [of] what was going on around; traffic and pedestrians were going by as normal,” he recalled in an interview with WIVB.
A surveillance camera shows Barton stopping to pull up next to the woman, who he said seemed “distraught” and “really disconnected.”
After repeatedly asking if she was okay and getting minimal responses, Barton approached the woman so he could pull her to safety.
“She turned back to look at me and then back at the traffic and that’s when I kind of lunged and got my left arm around her body,” Barton told the Buffalo News. “I asked her, ‘Do you want to come on this side of the guard rail now?’ and that was the first time she spoke to me and said, ‘Yeah.’”
Barton then sat with her until the police and firefighters arrived.
“Darnell won’t tell you this, but when he went back on his bus, the McKinley students gave him a round of applause,” Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) spokesman C. Douglas Hartmayer told the Buffalo News. “That’s because of Darnell’s modesty, which speaks to his demeanor of being very humble.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/30/darnell-barton-new-york-bus-driver_n_4178023.html?1383155711&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D398999
Pregnant Kerry Washington glows in new ‘Saturday Night Live’ promos
by Chris Witherspoon | October 30, 2013 at 1:29 PM
ust four months after secretly marrying San Francisco 49ers cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, Kerry Washington has more big news: She’s pregnant.
According E! News the Scandal star, 36, and her husband, 31, are expecting their first child.
“She had planned to wait longer because the pregnancy is being well hidden on Scandal with her trademark coats, but it will be pretty obvious on Saturday Night Live this Saturday,” a source explains. “So she decided to start telling people now.”
http://youtu.be/ZaLwzE0yN_U
http://thegrio.com/2013/10/30/pregnant-kerry-washington-glows-in-new-saturday-night-live-promos/
Why I’m Sick of Hearing Kanye West Complain About Racism in Fashion
by JIHAN FORBES
excerpt:
In his recent interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, West laments, “There is no black guy at the end of the runway in Paris,” forgetting Olivier Rousteing’s existence for a moment. True, there are few black designers, but how often do we see Yeezy endorsing those who are putting out collections? West has been quick to show support for labels like Céline—mentioned on the Diversity Coalition’s no-no list for not casting black models in their shows—Maison Martin Margiela, and Givenchy, proudly parading in bespoke and off-the-rack pieces from each. Yet you would be hard-pressed to see him pair his beloved leather jogging sweats with an Ozwald Boateng jacket, or find mention of designers like Duro Olowu in his rhymes.
It’s widely known that he makes style suggestions for his boo Kim Kardashian, who we often see outfitted in many of the labels Yeezy loves most: Céline, Lanvin, Givenchy, and Alaïa. In fact, with the exception of Balmain, West consistently outfits his fiancé in garments from non-POC designers. We rarely (or never) see Kim in creations by Cushnie et Ochs, Stella Jean, Tracey Reese, Mimi Plange or Duro Olowu. The reality star was recently photographed at the TAO nightclub in Vegas, with Yeezy in tow, in separates from Dolce & Gabbana, who sparked ire last year from many fashion fans after they presented a pair of offensive, minstrel-like earrings as part of their Spring 2013 collection.
http://fashionista.com/2013/10/why-im-sick-of-hearing-kanye-west-complain-about-racism-in-fashion/
The Left Must Accept that Ted Cruz is the Dominionist Messiah
By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Wednesday, October, 30th, 2013, 7:58 am
It was only to be expected, I suppose, that conservatism would come up with its own messianic figure to oppose the alleged liberal messiah, Barack Obama. Conservatives loved to taunt liberals and progressives about “their” messiah. But now they have one of their own. Well, a new one of their own.
Remember when Newt Gingrich was messiah of sorts? And Michele Bachmann actually asked God to anoint her campaign? Of course, Sarah Palin was an Mama Grizzly almost-hunter-grrl-messiah on her show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, and Rick Santorum gets honorable messiah mention.
When Ted Cruz heads down to join other Religious Right leaders at David Lane’s Renewal Project conference in South Carolina, he will do so as conservatism’s newly anointed messiah. At that point he will have replaced Sarah Palin, who, you might remember, was anointed as Esther before going off to do battle with Barack Obama for the soul of America
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/30/left-accept-ted-cruz-dominionist-messiah.html
Wendell Pierce ✔ @WendellPierce
Obamacare makes it illegal to offer insurance that doesn’t pay for your healthcare when you get sick. Insurance companies canceling those.
12:43 PM – 30 Oct 2013
The CW Sets Drama Adaptation Of Sara Shepard’s Book Series ‘The Perfectionists’
By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 29, 2013 @ 6:09pm PDT
Sara Shepard’s best selling young adult book series Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game were turned into TV shows by ABC Family. Now the author’s new book series, The Perfectionists, is headed to the CW as a drama series project from Alloy Entertainment and Warner Bros. TV. Written/executive produced by Arika Lisanne Mittman (Dexter) and exec produced by Alloy’s Leslie Morgenstein and Cheryl Dolins, The Perfectionists is a murder mystery drama. While The Lying Game lasted for two seasons, Pretty Little Liars has become ABC Family’s flagship drama series and spawned a spinoff series. Alloy and Warner Bros. recently set an adaptation of another upcoming Sara Shepard book series, Heiresses, at Bravo.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/the-cw-sets-drama-adaptation-of-sara-shepards-book-series-the-perfectionists/
Poll: Lindsey Graham’s Approval Rating Tumbles In S.C.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-lindsey-graham-s-approval-rating-tumbles-in-s-c
His re-election campaign looming, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has seen his approval rating steadily decline in 2013, according to poll findings released Wednesday.
The survey from Winthrop University found 37 percent of South Carolina voters approve of the job Graham is doing, compared with about 48 percent who said they disapprove. Winthrop showed Graham with an approval rating of 48 percent in February, and 44 percent in April.
Perhaps even more disconcerting for Graham, who is staring at a GOP primary in 2014, is his steep drop among Republican voters in South Carolina. The latest survey from Winthrop showed 45 percent of Republican voters approving of Graham, compared with 40 percent who disapprove.
Those mediocre numbers represent a massive decline since February, when nearly 72 percent of GOP voters said they approved of Graham. In Winthrop’s April survey, about 57 percent of Palmetto State Republicans approved of Graham.
Three Republicans have already announced their intention to challenge Graham next year.
*********************
BENGHAZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s Another Way the GOP Is Undermining Obamacare
Scott Messick and his wife aren’t switching to a new, cheaper health insurance plan because they’re afraid Republicans will repeal the law.
—By Erika Eichelberger
| Wed Oct. 30, 2013 3:00 AM PDT
Scott Messick is a 54-year-old retired health insurance consultant from Conroe, Texas. His wife runs a small yarn shop. They’re both on his former employer’s health insurance plan for retirees, and Messick says that he and his wife together pay $964 a month in premiums, and a $12,000 annual deductible (the amount of money they have to pay out-of-pocket each year before the insurer will pay any expenses). Starting in January, their premiums will shoot up to $1,283 a month, he says.
Earlier this month, Messick logged on to the federal insurance exchange website to shop for a new plan. (The federal government’s health insurance website has so many problems that many Americans are not able to register for the site, let alone compare plans. But Messick got through.) Although the Messicks’ income is too high to qualify for a subsidy, they found a plan that would save them $6,000 a year in premium payments, and another $5,000 or so on their deductible.
Despite the fact that Obamacare could cut their health care costs almost in half, the Messicks might not switch plans. Why? Because Republicans might repeal the law. “My wife is concerned that Republicans will try to get rid of this thing, and if they do, we’ve jumped out of a retiree plan,” Messick says. “We’d be left with nothing.”
Many retiree health plans stipulate that you can only enroll in the plan once, and if you drop coverage—say, by buying cheaper insurance on the exchange—you’re out for good. “The door swings one way,” Messick explains.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/obamacare-retiree-plan-republican-repeal
Keith Boykin @keithboykin5m
The Washington Post describes Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) as “an African-American who appears to be white.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
Ohio Teacher Goes On Racist Facebook Halloween Rant.
http://gawker.com/ohio-teacher-goes-on-racist-facebook-halloween-rant-1454424774?utm_source=recirculation&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=wednesdayAM
A high school teacher in Akron, Ohio was placed on paid leave Monday for posting a racist Facebook rant about trick-or-treaters. Civil rights leaders are now calling for his firing.
Firestone High School teacher David Spondike, 51, took to his Facebook page Sunday night to let the world know how he felt about kids from the “ghetto” daring to trick-or-treat at his house. According to screenshots of the rant sent to local news outlets by an anonymous Facebook friend, Spondike was upset about one of the children urinating outside:
Hateful and depraved!
Can you believe that? It’s some mean ass people in this world.
Sanford bans guns from neighborhood watch patrol after Zimmerman case
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2013/10/29/neighborhood_watch_zimmerman.html?cid=rss
Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith unveils sweeping changes to the city’s neighborhood watch program, including banning volunteers from carrying guns while on duty or pursuing anyone in their neighborhood.
SANFORD — More than a year and a half after Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, the city of Sanford is making major changes to its neighborhood watch program, including banning volunteers from carrying guns while on patrol, and forbidding them from pursuing anyone in their neighborhoods.
Sanford’s new police chief, Cecil Smith, said the neighborhood watch program as it was operated while Zimmerman was part of it was dysfunctional and had no accountability.
“In this program, it is clearly stated that you will not pursue an individual,” Smith explained. “In this new program, it clearly indicates that you will not carry a firearm when performing your duties as a neighborhood watch captain or participant.”
Smith said when he took over as Sanford’s chief of police in April, the neighborhood watch program Zimmerman was part of was still operating the same way it was when he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin more than a year earlier.
Though Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in July, Smith said the program needed to be re-evaluated, so he stopped it completely until changes could be implemented.
“We’ve seen this happen already, where an individual was declaring that under the auspice of neighborhood watch, he was performing a duty that he wasn’t,” Smith explained, calling the previous state of the program dysfunctional, disorganized and disjointed.
THIS KNEEGROW HERE
Nicholas Kristof ✔ @NickKristof
I’m in Oklahoma and just met a single working mom with 3 small kids, bracing herself for the new food stamp cuts. She’ll lose $90 a month.
billmonster @billmon1
@NickKristof Pity she’s not a middle-class person facing a $90 a month increase in health plan premiums. Maybe CBS would do a story on her.
9:20 PM – 29 Oct 2013
WHAT.THE.FUCK.
It gets worse than that for this Halloween, Ametia.
I was horrified and shaken when I saw the photo of the depraved Halloween costume photo of two guys dressed up as Trayvon Martin (blackface + blood on his shirt) and George Zimmerman.
@Yahtc
Social Media Users Track Down Woman Behind Racist Trayvon Martin Costume & Get Her Fired.
http://wordondastreet.com/social-media-users-track-woman-behind-racist-trayvon-martin-costume-get-fired/
People like this are the reason why racial tensions in this country are so high. This is the equivalent of someone dressing up as the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooter and wearing bloody costumes mocking the children that died. Thankfully, karma worked quickly in this situation and now their whole lives are ruined behind their unbelievably insensitive Halloween costumes:
Meet Caitlin Cimeno, mother of two from Massachusetts (by way of Florida), William Filene (a convicted felon) and Greg Cimeno who thought posting this disgusting photo was a great idea (and #funny). Only a proud (and completely-idiotic) racist would post this with her full name, pics of her kids at school and selfies in her work attire on a public Instagram profile. She even captioned the images: ‘Happy Halloween from Zimmerman & trayvon’ with a smiley face emoticon.
The other two proud racists are William Filene (left, in hoodie and Blackface/mask) who, according to The Smoking Gun, is a convicted felon and Greg Cimeno (right, dressed as George Zimmerman) who thought the costume was “fawking hilarious!!!” So one of the men is a convicted felon but Trayvon Martin was a “thug” who deserved to die?
I knew that would happen, that some knuckle dragging, subhuman trash would come up with a Halloween costume mocking the murder of Trayvon Martin and post a picture on social media. It was so predictable, and there will be others that we do not hear about.
The estimated number of sociopaths in this country is somewhere around 4 percent of the population which means there are about 12 million of them walking around. Combine that with low intelligence, bad parenting, and various other negative traits and this is pretty much what you get.
Liza,
And it’s only going to get worse. We have to brace ourselves.
This is why I am staying active on various blogs. We need the public to be aware of what is happening and stay informed.
We have to have citizens report EVERY instance of hate and racism and SQUELCH it.
These are dangerous times especially with the Stand Your Ground laws that encourage the people with vigilante mentalities.
Then, there are the types who want to turn the clock back. We have to block ALL of their moves.
AMEN!
I Just CAN’T this morning
Medicaid Expansion (Pt. 1)
Posted by Richard Mayhew at 8:19 am .
Oct302013
.
Right now Medicaid expansion is going fairly well. People who were previously eligible but not enrolled are signing up, and people who are newly eligible in the non-stupid states are signing up. States with Democratic control have overwhelmingly expanded Medicaid eligibility and states with Republican control where the faction of Republicans who can count to eleven with their shoes on are the dominant players are expanding Medicaid. Arkansas has pioneered the “private option” for Medicaid enrollment, and they look like they should be good to go on Jan. 1, 2014.
States have a variety of options as to how they manage their Medicaid programs. States can either act as an insurance company by setting up provider networks, paying claims, researching denials and appeals, and providing member service or they can set up a series of non-state managed care organizations. Most states have gone the managed care route. Expansion quality will vary across states. The states that have been planning for expansion the longest should have the easiest time. Ohio will most likely have a rough kick-off because they decided to expand only a few weeks ago. Michigan was also a late decider, but they are not expanding until April 1, 2014 so they should have a smoother launch than Ohio.
The managed care organizations have a significant number of tasks that need to be done for a successful expansion.
The first thing that a managed care organization needs to do is figure out if the rules have changed for the expanded eligibility population. For instance, states can modify co-pays and premiums as recipients go up the income ladder. If an organization has a standard configuration but the expansion pool has a series of new $5 co-pays, the managed care organization will need to reconfigure plan structures. New membership groups and lower member divisions may be needed. For instance, my state requires additional maternity care at no co-pay so young women who previously were on Medicaid basic are temporarily moved to a seperate group during their pregnancy to insure a smooth application of better benefits.
Once the base set of rules are defined and configuration occurs, several other long lead time actions need to happen. Ohio is anticipating an additional quarter of a million people joining Medicaid in the next year. Those people will need to talk to customer service reps, and those reps need to be hired and trained. Those people will need their complex conditions managed so new case managers will need to be hired and trained. Those people will need advocates when denials are issued and they go to appeal, so the advocates need to be hired and trained. Providers will see an increase in care coordination and appeals requests so provider service representatives will need to be hired and trained.
After the back-end/invisible long lead tasks are taken care of, the front end tasks need to be accomplished. The first is getting word out to the target populations. This is a big marketing campaign that has to work in multiple languages, multiple cultural mileaus and also work against cultural and political stigma. The next step is a screening step. Most of the screening is intended to take place on the Exchange websites, but direct sign-ups are also possible. I anticipate a lot of churn as people re-assess their options and choices as they get close to the top of the income limitations. Exchange may be better than Medicaid for someone who projects their income to be $1 over the state expansion income limit rather than $1 under the limit. After that, regular enrollment and procedures can start taking place at a much larger scale.
This is a fairly straightforward set of tasks that are at most variations on previous themes. The task set is big, but it is not a task of re-inventing the wheel.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/10/30/medicaid-expansion-pt-1/
Our local papers are crying about higher rates outstate. I’m not sure why this is. Thinking they got something to beat up D’s over. I ain’t going.
Macy’s security has arrest quota, ‘race code system’ for nonwhite shoppers: lawsuit
By Vera Chinese AND Larry Mcshane / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, October 30, 2013, 2:25 AM
Macy’s security guards worked on a quota system of five “arrests” per
week — and nonwhite shoppers were identified by an internal “race code system,” according to a lawsuit.
African-American men were referred to as “10-90s” and black women as “10-91s” among store security personnel, a Turkish immigrant charged in court papers after her 2010 arrest. The demeaning code was created by Macy’s “to facilitate its targeting of Middle Eastern,
African-American/black and other nonwhite shoppers,” the suit charged.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/macy-security-arrest-quota-race-code-system-suit-article-1.1501037#ixzz2jD2OSuoG
White Alienation, Black Satisfaction and the Obama Era
By Francis Wilkinson Oct 29, 2013 4:23 PM ET
One of the remarkable trends of the Barack Obama era is the transference of rage from left to right. Anybody remember “Bush Lied, People Died” bumper stickers? To some extent, this is the natural sway of the political pendulum, with angry lefties supplanted by angry righties after the party in the White House changes.
But there appears to be a longer-term process of alienation under way, with conservative whites — talking to you, Tea Party — increasingly assuming the posture of aggrieved outsiders. The “angry white men” who fueled the Newt Gingrich revolution in 1994 are seemingly angrier, more alienated and as white as ever in 2013.
A new ABC News-Fusion poll contains a remarkable finding. When asked whether “people like you” are well represented in Congress, twice as many nonwhites (47 percent) as whites (24 percent) say yes. Of course, “people like you” is a Rorschach of a phrase that can encompass ideology, sex, region, class, religion and more. Race is only one identifier.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-29/white-alienation-black-satisfaction-and-the-obama-era.html?alcmpid=view
John Boehner’s ‘wet blanket’
10/30/13 08:33 AM
By Steve Benen
A couple of years ago, a Republican pollster must have told lawmakers to use the “wet blanket” metaphor as often as possible, because GOP lawmakers started using it constantly. Tax rates? A “wet blanket over job creation.” The budget deficit? A “wet blanket over our economy.” Regulations? A “big wet blanket on our economy.”
The odd metaphor seemed to fade a bit recently, but it may be poised for a comeback.
Now, I have no idea if Speaker Boehner actually believes his own rhetoric. I also can’t say why, in his mind, “delaying” a national health care law would eliminate “uncertainty,” when common sense would suggest the opposite is true.
And while we’re at it, I also don’t know if Boehner has any evidence whatsoever to bolster the assertion that expanding access to health care coverage is undermining the economy – a claim that appears to have been simply made up.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/john-boehners-wet-blanket
on point comment about Kanye disrespecting our First Lady:
a gif for the 3CHICS library
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3rsspEpyx1qbcq69.gif
Obama’s Quiet Bull Market Charges Past Reagan-Era Gains
Indeed, President Barack Obama has something to brag about. With the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index daily setting new records, he can now say he has a better performing stock market than President Ronald Reagan: POTUS 44 is so far up 120 percent, compared to the Gipper’s 118 percent gain over his eight years in the White House, according to data crunched by Rich Peterson of S&P Capital IQ.[….]
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-29/obamas-quiet-bull-market-charges-past-reagan-era-gains#r=nav-r-story
So NOW and Feministing had a #Solidarityisforwhitewomen panel and did not invite the blogger that created the hashtag in the first place.
http://feministing.com/2013/10…
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Black Canseco @BlackCanseco1h
Hey @feministing: way to STEAL @karnythia’s #SolidarityisforWhiteWomen cut her out and attach @NOW to it. http://feministing.com/2013/10… … #Allies
Brienne of Snarth @femme_esq20m
Is @feministing trying to prove @Karnythia was right when she started #solidarityisforwhitewomen? Not crediting her as its author is wrong.
Elizabeth McClellan @popelizbet27m
Two days ago I said I want @karnythia credited for #Solidarityisforwhitewomen without fail. @feministing is the fail. @now too.
she was a showgirl @seelolago29m
KNOCK ME OVER WITH A FEATHER @feministing held an event for #solidarityisforwhitewomen and DIDN’T invite @Karnythia?
New Black Woman @NewBlackWoman41m
I’m just rambling. Just tired and irritated. @feministing’s treatment of @Karnythia really has struck a nerve. #SolidarityisForWhiteWomen
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Morning, everyone!
Thank you, Yahtc!
Good Morning to All of you!
Here is a link to some wonderful morning poems:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodmorningpoems.net%2F&ei=KetwUpqxB9XIsASg_YDQCw&usg=AFQjCNHmx3IHAIsgqF4g7HteEvRcsaOdEQ&bvm=bv.55617003,d.cWc