Libros
Mother Jones
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>
The open enrollment period for Obamacare is finally (almost) over, and today the White House announced the final figures for signups via the exchanges:
8 million people signed up for private insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace. For states that have Federally-Facilitated Marketplaces, 35 percent of those who signed up are under 35 years old, and 28 percent are between 18 and 34 years old, virtually the same youth percentage that signed up in Massachusetts in its first year of health reform.
That’s a little better than I expected. I was figuring the final number would be around 7.7 million or so. We Americans sure do like to procrastinate, don’t we?
Anyway, once some of these new enrollees drop out for not paying their premiums, the final number will be around 7 million, which matches the CBO’s original estimate—the one they made before the website debacle. That’s pretty amazing. It suggests that either the CBO was overly pessimistic or else that the website problems really didn’t have any effect at all. I suppose the latter is plausible if you assume that hardly anyone was ever going to sign up in the first couple of months anyway.
And the 28 percent number for young enrollees is pretty good too. It’s below the administration’s goal, but Jon Cohn points out that what really matters is whether it matches what insurance companies expected:
The worry has always been that older and sicker people would sign up in unusually high numbers, forcing insurers to raise their prices next year and beyond.
But insurance companies didn’t expect young people to sign up in proportion to their numbers in the population. They knew participation would be a bit lower and they set premiums accordingly. Only company officials know exactly what they were projecting—that’s proprietary information—but one good metric is the signup rate in Massachusetts, in 2007, when that state had open enrollment for its version of the same reforms. According to information provided by Jonathan Gruber, the MIT economist and reform architect, 28.3 percent of Massachusetts enrollees were ages 19 to 34, a comparable age group.
So what were insurance companies expecting? As Cohn says, we don’t know for sure, but there’s good reason to think that it was around 28 percent. First, there’s the Massachusetts precedent. And second, we learned yesterday that insurance companies are now expected to raise premiums a modest 7 percent next year. This suggests that that the age and health profile of exchange enrollees is pretty close to their projections.
All in all, another day of pretty good news for Obamacare.
Visit site –
Mother Jones
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>
This story first appeared on the TomDispatch website.
It’s 2053—20 years since you needed a computer, tablet, or smart phone to go online. At least, that’s true in the developed world: you know, China, India, Brazil, and even some parts of the United States. Cybernetic eye implants allow you to see everything with a digital overlay. And once facial recognition software was linked to high-speed records searches, you had the lowdown on every person standing around you. Of course, in polite society you still introduce yourself as if you don’t instantly know another person’s net worth, arrest record, and Amazooglebook search history. (Yes, the fading old-tech firms Amazon, Google, and Facebook merged in 2033.) You also get a tax break these days if you log into one of the government’s immersive propaganda portals. (Nope, “propaganda” doesn’t have negative connotations anymore.) So you choose the Iraq War 50th Anniversary Commemoration Experience and take a stroll through the virtual interactive timeline.
Look to your right, and you see happy Iraqis pulling down Saddam’s statueand showering US Marines with flowers and candy. Was that exactly how it happened? Who really remembers? Now, you’re walking on the flight deck of what they used to call an aircraft carrier behind a flight-suit-clad President George W. Bush. He turns and shoots you a thumbs-up under a “mission accomplished” banner. A voice beamed into your head says that Bush proclaimed victory that day, but that for years afterward, valiant US troops would have to re-win the war again and again. Sounds a little strange, but okay.
A few more paces down the digital road and you encounter a sullen looking woman holding a dog leash, the collar attached to a man lying nude on the floor of a prison. Your digital tour guide explains: “An unfortunate picture was taken. Luckily, the bad apple was punished and military honor was restored.” Fair enough. Soon, a digital General David Petraeus strides forward and shoots you another thumbs-up. (It looks as if they just put a new cyber-skin over the President Bush avatar to save money.) “He surged his way to victory and the mission was accomplished again,” you hear over strains of the National Anthem and a chorus of “hooahs.”
View this article –
The MV Akademik Shokalskiy in happier times.
A team of Antarctic researchers was rescued after spending nine days “stuck,” as one of the scientists put it, “in our own experiment.”
Members of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition were among 52 passengers aboard the MV Akademik Shokalskiy when it became trapped in sea ice on Dec. 24. Rescue efforts were thwarted for more than a week by bad weather, but on Thursday the scientists and tourists were finally airlifted by a Chinese helicopter to the safety of an Australian icebreaker:
The scientists had planned to study how the melting of B09B, one of the world’s biggest icebergs, is triggering a buildup in surrounding sea ice and altering deep ocean currents.
“We followed Sir Douglas Mawson‘s footsteps into Commonwealth Bay, and are now ourselves trapped by ice surrounding our ship,” wrote scientists Chris Turney in a statement.
Even while international teams scrambled to rescue the crew, the fossil fuel industry’s henchmen delighted in the scientists’ predicament, excitedly pointing to the emergency as a reminder that ice still exists in cold places. (And, yes, sea ice around Antarctica is expanding even as glaciers, the Arctic, and other parts of Antarctica melt, pushing up sea levels and altering worldwide weather patterns — confusing though that might be for those who do not try to understand science.)
Despite their plight and right-wing media mockery, the researchers celebrated in style on New Year’s Eve. A video shows them in high spirits, laughing and singing about ”having fun doing science in Antarctica,” even as they lamented the “bloody great shame” of being stuck there:
Agence France-Presse reports on their makeshift New Year’s Eve party:
“It was rather amazing actually,” [Turney] told AFP via Skype from his remote location. “We set this tent up on top of the deck. It was very cosy. There was a lot of excitement.
“It was just what the team needed, letting their hair down for a bit and forgetting about their worries and concerns.”
He said those onboard were keeping busy — either continuing to pack up the scientific equipment on the boat or taking part in seminars ranging from sewing to salsa dancing and reflecting the skills of those trapped on the vessel.
Now that the 52 passengers have been rescued, things will get even lonelier for the 22 crew members aboard — they are planning on staying with the vessel in hopes that the ice around it will eventually break up naturally.
Source
Winds, rain halt Antarctic ship rescue, Agence France-Presse
Icebound ship rescue thwarted in Antarctic, Al Jazeera
Antarctic passengers rescued from ship by helicopter – live coverage, The Guardian
John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.
Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy
This article is from:
Mother Jones
A team of U.S. Army AH-64D Apaches from the 1-151 Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, S.C. National Guard, take off from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., as part of an integrated live fire exercise with the U.S. Navy George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group, December 16, 2013. While working with the Navy for this exercise, the 1-151 ARB mission was to find, fix and destroy small boat targets. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Jamie Delk)
This article is from:
Mother Jones
Tim Lee reports that a key provision in Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s patent reform bill has been axed:
One provision would have expanded what’s known as the “covered business method” (CBM) program, which provides an expedited process for the Patent Office to get rid of low-quality software patents….The CBM program provides a quick and cost-effective way for a defendant to challenge the validity of a plaintiff’s patent. Under the program, litigation over the patent is put on hold while the Patent Office considers a patent’s validity. That’s important because the high cost of patent litigation is a big source of leverage for patent trolls.
The original CBM program, which was created by the 2011 America Invents Act, was limited to a relatively narrow class of financial patents. The Goodlatte bill would have codified a recent decision opening the program up to more types of patents….But large software companies had other ideas. A September letter signed by IBM, Microsoft and several dozen other firms made the case against expanding the program. The proposal, they wrote, “could harm U.S. innovators by unnecessarily undermining the rights of patent holders. Subjecting data processing patents to the CBM program would create uncertainty and risk that discourage investment in any number of fields where we should be trying to spur continued innovation.”
It would be hard to overstate just how self-serving and absurd the IBM-Microsoft position is. The notion that an expedited process for evaluating business process patents would discourage investment is laughable. This is the purest example of special pleading since Rob Ford tried to justify his crack use by explaining that he was hammered at the time.
Which wasn’t that long ago, was it? This just goes to show how common special pleading is—and also goes to show just how seriously we should take it. The good news here is that apparently the CBM provision is still alive in the Senate, so there’s still a chance it could make it into the final bill. We can hope.
More:
green4us
Codex: Eldar is your comprehensive guide to wielding the deadly warhosts of the Craftworld Eldar upon the battlefields of the 41 st Millennium. This volume details the craftworlds of the Eldar, and the different types of army they field. The Eldar embody excellence in the arts of war, from their psychic might to their deadly aircraft, and their ranks co […]
iTunes Store
Codex: Inquisition – Games Workshop
The Inquisition is the most powerful organisation within the Imperium. Bound by no Imperial law or authority, its agents – Inquisitors – operate in a highly secretive manner and answer only to themselves. Inquisitors use whatever means are necessary in order to safeguard the Imperium from heretics, mutants and aliens. It is not without good reason that Inqui […]
iTunes Store
Codex: Inquisition (eBook Edition) – Games Workshop
The Inquisition is the most powerful organisation within the Imperium. Bound by no Imperial law or authority, its agents – Inquisitors – operate in a highly secretive manner and answer only to themselves. Inquisitors use whatever means are necessary in order to safeguard the Imperium from heretics, mutants and aliens. It is not without good reason that Inqui […]
iTunes Store
Codex: Space Marines (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop
The Space Marines are the chosen warriors of the Emperor, and the greatest fighting force of the Imperium. Each Space Marine is a genetically enhanced super soldier, easily a match for a dozen lesser men, armed with some of the deadliest weapons in the galaxy and encased in formidable power armour. This codex explores the formations and Chapters of the Space […]
iTunes Store
Duct Tape Your Heart Out! – Leisure Arts & Patti Wallenfang
With today’s colorful duct tape and the fun projects in this book, you can craft to your heart’s content! Dress up school stuff and rain gear, make hip headphones and a purse or wallet, give new life to old shoes, bend covered coax cable into wall art words, and create unique jewelry to share with friends. These ideas are irresistible! Step-by-step photos an […]
iTunes Store
How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier
From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]
iTunes Store
Codex: Adepta Sororitas – Games Workshop
The Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Sisters of Battle, are an elite sisterhood of warriors raised from infancy to adore the Emperor of Mankind. Their fanatical devotion and unwavering purity is a bulwark against corruption, heresy and alien attack, and once battle has been joined they will stop at nothing until their enemies are utterly crushed In this b […]
iTunes Store
Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 2 – J.D. Lenzen
Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 2 (PFT-V2) is the second installment in the paracord fusion ties book series and another stunning achievement by author J.D. Lenzen. Like Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 1, PFT-V2 reveals innovative and stylish ways of storing paracord for later use. So once again you’ll find crisp, clear, full-color photographs (over 1,000 i […]
iTunes Store
The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete
For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t […]
iTunes Store
Warhammer 40,000: The Rules – Games Workshop
There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only WAR. In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of destruction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by ravening aliens and threatened from within by Warp-spawned entities and heretical plots. Only the strength of the immortal […]
iTunes Store
See original article:
Conservation Group Keeps Buying Land, Helping State Parks Grow
