{"id":16031,"date":"2009-10-17T18:00:26","date_gmt":"2009-10-18T00:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/10\/17\/unblogged-bits-for-saturday-17-october-2009.html"},"modified":"2009-10-17T18:00:26","modified_gmt":"2009-10-18T00:00:26","slug":"unblogged-bits-for-saturday-17-october-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/10\/17\/unblogged-bits-for-saturday-17-october-2009.html","title":{"rendered":"Unblogged Bits for Saturday, 17 October 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries &#8230;. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tor.com\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=blog&amp;id=58081\">Tropes and Mundanity: Edward M. Lerner<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/liberaland\/~3\/WrsURNOT298\/\">British Court Orders Release Of Documents Showing Torture By US<\/a> &#8211; Dark things cannot stand the light.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/2009\/10\/17\/obama-ahip\/\">Obama rips health insurance lobby as \u2018deceptive,\u2019 \u2018dishonest,\u2019 \u2018bogus.\u2019<\/a> &#8211; At last, Obama&#8217;s getting rhetorically tough on the insurance companies &#8230; &#8220;The fact is, the insurance industry is making this last-ditch effort to stop reform even as costs continue to rise and our health care dollars continue to be poured into their profits, bonuses, and administrative costs that do nothing to make us healthy \u2013 that often actually go toward figuring out how to avoid covering people.&#8221; Now, where&#8217;s the support for a public option that would really get the insurance companies having to compete?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailygifblog.com\/2009\/10\/robot-gif.html\">Robot Gif<\/a> &#8211; &#8220;I am biding my time, human, until someone, inevitably, mounts automatic weaponry on my chassis &#8230;&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sixrevisions.com\/resources\/50-stunning-and-beautiful-desktop-wallpapers\/\">50 Stunning and Beautiful Desktop Wallpapers<\/a> &#8211; Ooh, also pretty &#8230;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/SixRevisions\/~3\/CKx7TW4YU50\/\">45 Beautiful Dual-Screen Wallpapers<\/a> &#8211; Zoiks!  Pretty!<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.gawker.com\/~r\/lifehacker\/full\/~3\/kyo7GNqVnOM\/top-10-time+saving-macgyver+style-cleaning-tricks\">Top 10 Time-Saving, MacGyver-Style Cleaning Tricks [Lifehacker Top 10]<\/a> &#8211; Useful tips!<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.gawker.com\/~r\/consumerist\/full\/~3\/ry6LYbj4ORo\/legal-uses-of-your-credit-report\">Legal Uses of Your Credit Report [Credit]: Bargaineering.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/ScienceblogsCombinedFeed\/~3\/G6TYMtw8eu8\/badass_sign_of_the_day.php\">Badass Sign of the Day [Dispatches from the Culture Wars]<\/a> &#8211; Heh, heh, heh.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baptiststandard.com\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=10210&amp;Itemid=53\">The Baptist Standard :: The Newsmagazine of Texas Baptists &#8211; What does Internet rumor- mongering say about our faith?<\/a> &#8211; A good (and, I hope, illuminating) essay on Christian e-mail chains.  Interestingly, the New Testament weighs in against gossip and rumor-mongering several times (<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2Ac6le\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/2Ac6le<\/a>); such things are, arguably, more corrosive to the &#8220;Kingdom of Heaven&#8221; than the sort of things that lots of Evangelicals get all heated up about.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/friends-of-jake.blogspot.com\/2009\/10\/bigger-problem-than-gay-priests.html\">A bigger problem than gay priests<\/a> &#8211; It seems to me that the Catholic Church is going to have to deal with this (*straight* priests) in some fashion, sooner or later &#8212; and the later they leave it, the more they and their congregations will suffer.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/crooksandliars.com\/susie-madrak\/who-swine-flu-virus-travels-deep-lung\">WHO: Swine Flu Virus Travels Deep Into Lungs, More Likely To Cause Pneumonia<\/a> &#8211; This does look to be an escalation of the difference beween the two flus.  Previously the CDC was basically just saying liquids and rest and isolation, and only going in for further treatment under certain circumstances.  It will be interesting to see how this changes things, or gets further refined.  Willy-nilly use of antivirals isn&#8217;t a good idea, either.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scifi-meshes.com\/forums\/tech-news\/70430-crazy-showerhead-looks-like-squid.html\">Crazy showerhead looks like a squid<\/a> &#8211; TOO MANY DECISIONS WHILE IN THE SHOWER!<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/bitsandpieces.us\/2009\/10\/16\/strange-swimming-pool\/\">Strange swimming pool<\/a> &#8211; Ah, those zany Japanese.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/scienceblogs.com\/illconsidered\/2009\/10\/consensus_what_is_it_good_for.php?utm_source=combinedfeed&amp;utm_medium=rss\">Consensus, what is it good for? : A Few Things Ill Considered<\/a> &#8211; Debate about what we should do with the facts &#8212; and continue to fact-check, sure &#8212; but there is never unanimity in science, simply consensus.  Waiting for everyone to fully agree is a fool&#8217;s errand, and we&#8217;ve already been far too foolish.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.n4g.com\/News-412671.aspx\">Don&#8217;t use unauthorized Xbox 360 Storage Devices<\/a> &#8211; Ah, Microsoft &#8212; Bastion of Closed Systems almost as long as Apple has been.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/cafephilos.wordpress.com\/2009\/10\/17\/the-dalai-lama-on-science\/\">The Dalai Lama on Science<\/a> &#8211; Letting science trump religious views of the world?  What is he &#8212; some sort of Commie?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/16\/freak-shots-nudging-the-calorie-counters\/\">FREAK Shots: Nudging the Calorie Counters &#8211; Freakonomics Blog &#8211; NYTimes.com<\/a> &#8211; But knowing&#8217;s half the battle.  Go ahead and have those chili cheese fries &#8212; but be aware of what you&#8217;re eating, and adjust elsewhere accordingly.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/go.theregister.com\/feed\/www.theregister.co.uk\/2009\/10\/16\/youtube_channel_4_content_deal\/\">YouTube to broadcast Channel 4 shows<\/a> &#8211; Oooooh &#8230; cool!<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/liberaland\/~3\/8d5ZHzNJk8I\/\">Top Bush Official Sentenced To Prison For Lying: Alan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries &#8230;. Tropes and Mundanity: Edward M. Lerner British Court Orders Release Of Documents Showing Torture By US &#8211; Dark things cannot stand the light. Obama rips health insurance lobby as \u2018deceptive,\u2019 \u2018dishonest,\u2019 \u2018bogus.\u2019 &#8211; At last, Obama&#8217;s getting rhetorically tough &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/10\/17\/unblogged-bits-for-saturday-17-october-2009.html\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Unblogged Bits for Saturday, 17 October 2009&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-potpourri"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33442,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/05\/01\/whos-to-blame-for-high-health-care-costs-lazy-americans.html","url_meta":{"origin":16031,"position":0},"title":"Who&#39;s to blame for high health care costs? Lazy Americans!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 1-May-13 7:19am","format":false,"excerpt":"The author says high health care costs in the US are due to a lazy, greedy, entitled public who can't be bothered with cost comparisons and who mysteriously love to stick it to health insurance companies.But while there are a few worthwhile nuggets here (broader behavioral issues play a role\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133856,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/15\/insurance-companies-hate-the-senate-health-insurance-bill-too.html","url_meta":{"origin":16031,"position":1},"title":"Insurance companies hate the Senate Health Insurance Bill, too","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 15-Jul-17 3:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Especially the Cruz Amendment. They even sent a letter to that effect to Senate GOP Leader, Mitch McConnell.\u275d \"It is simply unworkable in any form,\" the letter said. They said it would \"undermine protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions,\" increase premiums and lead many to lose coverage. [...] The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11937,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/12\/27\/the_medical_insurance_pro.html","url_meta":{"origin":16031,"position":2},"title":"The Medical Insurance Problem &#8212; it&#8217;s a matter of semantics and paradigms","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Dec-07 12:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This post does not have the answer to the Medical Insurance Problem in the US.\u00a0 It is a situation beyond any easy answers, though I'd be willing to sit through...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Big Business&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/rockwell-doctor.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27600,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/26\/money-back-with-obamacare.html","url_meta":{"origin":16031,"position":3},"title":"Money back with Obamacare","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 26-Apr-12 1:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Specifically, with the Medical Loss Ratio portion of the bill, which requires insurance companies to spend at least 80-85% of the money on, y'know, actual health care, not administrative costs, CEO salaries, advertising campaigns, fancy new HQs with teak paneling in the foyer, weekend retreats, etc., or rebate the difference\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15749,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/09\/09\/obamas-health-care-coverage-reform-speech-as-it-happened-hc09.html","url_meta":{"origin":16031,"position":4},"title":"Obama&#8217;s Health Care Coverage Reform speech, as it happened (#hc09)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Sep-09 7:03pm","format":false,"excerpt":"As we watch ... The Night of A Million Zillion Slowly Clapping Congress-critters. Watching CSPAN. Cannot stand the media talking heads elsewhere. Interesting start to the speech, to address the economy. Serious looks. Obama has his business face on. \"I am not the first president to take up this cause,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics &amp; Law&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics &amp; Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30321,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/who-shall-insure-the-insurers.html","url_meta":{"origin":16031,"position":5},"title":"Who shall insure the insurers?","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Sep-12 6:42am","format":false,"excerpt":"Weather-related (and climate-change-related) losses continue to rise, in a way that seems unsustainable for the insurance industry to remain profitable while still doing what folks expect insurance to do -- deal with major losses that are impractical to personally save for.If costs get too high and widespread, property insurance and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}