64F and dripping wet.
Rain throughout the night, but not heavy here. Some people got clobbered apparently.
Woke up several times, soaked in sweat. That’s not like me at all. The weird part was that each time it felt like I’d slept all night. Usually it feels like I haven’t slept at all if that happens.
Strange dreams too. The last one was about shipping freight.
I generally don’t sleep well when all the chicks aren’t in the nest, should be better tonight.
Ebay is strange. I sold an obscure military item, one that has been sitting on my shelf for a year or two with maybe one sale. Then suddenly I sell two more, and get an offer on a third. The buyers are all over the country, so I don’t see any link between them, but there must be SOMETHING for the item to suddenly be in demand. Strange.
Breakfast time, and I have to do the school run… better get moving.
n
BOOM! BOOM!
No, not even for Uncle Joe. What an obvious load of bovine manure. So far Trump remains cool headed and says the right things, Brennan not so much.
Dodgers down two. Prediction – 2 wins in LA then back to Beantown for a 6th game for the Sox to win the series. Oh well I could be wrong.
41º and mostly cloudy today. Looks to be good (cool & clear/cloudy) until the weekend, at which point the forecast will change.
That XC race last night went well. One missed read on the primary, but picked up on the backup, and nobody around him so it didn’t affect scoring at all.
It’s amazing what a few well-placed cameras will pick up. One of the runners went down after the finish. I thought he might have stepped on something at the finish, but review of video shows that he threw his shoe down at the finish & pretty much leaped the entire mat system. Looks like his shoe fell off somewhere on the course & he carried it to the finish. He then had the presence of mind to drop the shoe (with timing chip) on the mat so he could be scored. Good thinking.
Two races this weekend, and then some off-time to work around the house until T-day, when 4000 of my closest friends will join me for a little trot.
hmmm, historically, bombs are a lefty trick.
n
LOL – these so called “pipe bombs” are a joke.
I made better when I was in 8th grade. And mine didn’t scream DANGER HIGH EXPLOSIVE all over them. Seriously, PVC ?? When cheap plumbing steel pipe is so easily available and so much more effective. Not one explosion. No one injured. This is a publicity stunt not an attempt at causing harm.
If I were a nut job who wanted to do harm I’d just send envelopes of Fentanyl powder.
It’s almost like the media did this just to get ratings.
OOOhhhh look at us, someone hates us….
n
better get used to that feeling bucko
Well it has taken the focus off the mob invasion.
The authorities were stating the devices were at risk of detonating if handled. Thus they were taking extreme caution. Yeh, right! How did these *sensitive* devices ever make it through the postal system. I have had many a package arrived mangled worse than the images of the supposed explosive devices show.
I also noticed that on one image the stamps had not been cancelled. How did the post office deliver without cancelling the stamps? The cancelling of stamps on such packages is usually done by hand by the postal worker slamming what is effectively a small hammer on the stamps.
I also have my suspicions that this entire event is being done to divert the news from the hoard of illiterate unwashed criminals that are massing for the border. An event that is not without significant suspicion. You cannot move 7K+ people 800 miles without logistic support for water, food, (probably crap on the road in Mexico). The news is just showing the women and children, not the majority of the marchers being men, mostly criminal thugs.
I don’t trust the news reporting of any of the events. They no longer report facts. The news uses words to slant the opinion. Rather than say “Trump signed an executive order” it is reported as “Trump signed a possibly illegal and racist executive order”. Big difference. I miss Mr. Conkrite. What we have now reporting news are people who have gone through college journalism classes taught by liberal teachers with an agenda. They students weren’t taught, they were indoctrinated. And paid big bucks for being brain washed.
Seems that walking across half a continent is HARD…. And $20 and some tamales isn’t enough…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6314599/500-Central-Americans-leave-migrant-caravan-buses-home.html
n
“‘MAGAbomber'” ????????
Seriously, what is the evidence for calling him THAT?
n
Just make shit up- give ’em two spoons, they’ll eat it with both hands.
Interesting “bombs”. No obvious detonator system.
No postmarks on the stamps and no barcode, so they weren’t mailed, yet they were made to look like they had been mailed.
It’s still horrible that someone thinks that it ok to send (fake) bombs to ex-presidents. Or shoot a congress person. Or send ricin to the current president.
Bombs are very common. I read somewhere that the average big city in the US has 5 or more callouts for bombs every day. They usually don’t make the news.
Neither do the bank robberies, of which there are also several every day (on average) apparently.
n
(one section of the CERT training covers bombs. Basically, don’t F with it, don’t let others F with it if you think it might be a bomb. Lots of video of people NOT following this advice and paying for it.)
added-“How many banks are robbed in a day?
Considering there are only about 100 “Wanted – Unknown” flags on the map, and there are approximately 5000 robberies per year, you can estimate that approximately 98% of bank robbers are captured (or known, at least).”
“Strategic Hightlights
[Last year] [ATF reporting system] captured 14,814 explosives related incidents. Of the reported incidents, there were 687 explosions of which 335 were bombings, with CA and WA having the highest numbers. There were a total of 6727 recoveries reported in 2017, with the majority being explosives [not IEDs.] There were a total of 5552 suspicious/unattended package incidents, an 8% decrease from 2016. Bomb threats continue to decrease slightly as they have for the past 5 years. There were 1670 bomb threats reported in ’15, 1536 in ’16, and 1228 in ’17. Education and office/business properties remain the most commonly reported targets of bomb threats.
Some site I saw pointed out that the wires don’t connect to any sort of detonator, and the clock strapped to the side is identifiable as an Amazon product: one with no alarm function. So the “bombs” were inoperable from the start.
Then you get the politicians screaming #metoo. Who was it who said they had also gotten a bomb, but it was just a thumb drive?
It’s either false flag, or the most incompetent terrorist ever. The problem is: if it’s false flag, then the swamp has no interest in identifying the culprits.
I also noticed that on one image the stamps had not been cancelled. How did the post office deliver without cancelling the stamps?
It’s now reported the “bombs” were all delivered by a courier (or fake). LEO are scouring for vid footage.
Oh, and Cuomo has deployed the NY National Guard. Yet, tRump is the fascist dictator.
“Papers, please!”
The “news” is reporting Megyn Kelly will be ousted at NBC over her “black face is OK for a costume” comment. Even a teary apology wasn’t enough. I’m sure her boss told her to apologize or else. The blacks at NBC are outraged.
That’s right folks, every comment is raycisss! But call tRump Hitler as much as you want, blame him for pipe bombs and the death of that WashPost “journalist”. As Mr. Nick says, CWII is coming. As Mr. DadCooks says, keep your powder dry.
I’m guessing the Russians are sending the bombs to help Trump. Alert RM.
Trump to deploy troops to boarder. I think some chartered planes might be better. Three or four per day could take a thousand back to where they came from. Two weeks tops. Step right over here and this bus will take you to the airport. Here’s a box lunch on us. Thank you for visiting the US. No wait. Pay the Mexican army to do it from airports south of the boarder.
Might be a whole lot cheaper.
Really, you have to change the risk-reward ratio. I’m less familiar with the current US situation, but the Africa-to-Europe migration is clear: Families send young ment off on the journey to Europe. If they get here, and lie their way to asylum, then they can apply to have their families join them – meaning that the families will be allowed to travel safely by plane. Enough young men manage this to make the risk worthwhile.
The current UN proposal, the so-called Global Compact on Migration is all about providing support for migrants. Exactly the wrong approach. Migration needs to be so difficult and dangerous, the chances of success so small, that economic migrants stay home.
Provide no support. Put obstacles in their way. If they reach the border, turn them away without exception. If they manage to cross the border, deport them immediately. Eventually, the message will get across, and they will stop coming. It works for Australia: they count illegal immigrants in the hundred, instead of in the millions.
One can console the SJWs by pointing out how many lives would be saved, if illegal immigrants wouldn’t make such arduous and dangerous journeys in the first place…
I also noticed that on one image the stamps had not been cancelled. How did the post office deliver without cancelling the stamps? The cancelling of stamps on such packages is usually done by hand by the postal worker slamming what is effectively a small hammer on the stamps.
I rarely see canceled stamps nowadays. However, most of the mail that I get is metered.
they are clearly hoax devices. whether meant to be taken seriously, or just a proof of concept, the result is the same as actual bombs without the murder. Kind of like the IRA planting bombs then reporting where they were. “see we COULD kill you if we wanted to” kind of thing.
n
WRT illegal invaders….
The park where the ‘day labor’ hangs out is mostly empty these days.
Our school has one ‘spanish only’ 4th grade class and it’s small and getting smaller. The other grades are likely seeing the same thing.
I think I’m seeing more apartment move in offers, and many of the crappiest apartments are taking time to fix up their units (to be more competitive.)
So I don’t know if it’s a new hostility to illegals, their fear of being caught and sent home with nothing, a slowing in the economy making it less attractive, or a combination of factors, but some of them are clearly moving out of here and hopefully self-deporting.
n
My son-in-law and I have been talking about going down to Tijuana for some lunch and browsing (not internet, the old fashioned way). I’ll tell him that we better go this weekend.
We went Christmas vacation week 2015 and had to worm our way through a Haitian throng to get into the San Ysidro entry building.
Um, article this week said TJ had 2000 murders so far this year. Not anywhere I’d want to go… and I used to go there fairly regularly for the farmacia and the beaches.
n
The current UN proposal, the so-called Global Compact on Migration is all about providing support for migrants. Exactly the wrong approach. Migration needs to be so difficult and dangerous, the chances of success so small, that economic migrants stay home.
We, and Europe, cannot take the poor peoples of the world. This TED talk does an awesome job of explaining this. “Immigration, World Poverty and Gumballs – NumbersUSA.com”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE
“Musk: Model Y prototype approved to go into production”
https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/24/model-y-tesla/?yptr=yahoo
Musk and Tesla are the energizer bunny. They never stop moving on.
“Tesla turns a profit in Q3 despite Musk”
https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/24/tesla-turns-a-profit-in-q3-despite-musk/
“In all, Tesla delivered 56,065 Model 3s to customers during Q3.”
That is quite a few cars. One wonders how many orders that Tesla has now for the model 3 ? If he can get the price down to $35,000 for a 200 mile battery car then he will sell the hound out of them. The $3 price to fill it up will gather people’s attention as the price to fill up a car gas tank has passed $20 again.
“Tesla also opened 4 new showrooms/service centers during Q3, bringing the total to 351 brick and mortar locations. This has helped drive a 20 percent increase of service revenue since Q2. The company also opened 44 new Supercharger stations, for a total of 1,352.”
Tesla has the appearance of a real business. I still think that Apple is going to buy Tesla someday.
Got my notice of the new health care plan for my wife. Out of network is not covered at all, nothing, zero coverage. Since the closest hospital is in network, but all the providers in the hospital are out of network we are screwed. Emergency room will now cost me thousands more for a visit as nothing will be covered except for the hospital which is a minor part of the total.
This Affordable Healthcare crap has really shafted everyone. Costs went up, coverage went down, people are paying more for less. That idiot democrat and his other cronies sold everyone a scam.
Oh, and premiums went up.
How can a hospital be in-network, but the doctors in the hospital out-of-network? That makes no sense at all.
Mind,I’m not saying your wrong, or anything. Just that it’s beyond insane.
Got my notice of the new health care plan for my wife. Out of network is not covered at all, nothing, zero coverage. Since the closest hospital is in network, but all the providers in the hospital are out of network we are screwed. Emergency room will now cost me thousands more for a visit as nothing will be covered except for the hospital which is a minor part of the total.
If a supplier is out of network, do you at least get the advantage of the reduced rates ? If not, then you are truly screwed. I would get another medical insurance as a visit to the ER could cost you $100K.
This Affordable Healthcare crap has really shafted everyone. Costs went up, coverage went down, people are paying more for less. That idiot democrat and his other cronies sold everyone a scam.
Why yes, that was the intent. Now people are clamoring for Medicare for All ™. This is all by design.
Doctors and other providers are considered contract employees and not employed by the hospital. Go to the hospital and you will get several bills. One from the hospital, one from the primary doctor, another from perhaps an assistant, one from the anesthesiologist, one from the person that reads any X-Rays, another from the lab, etc. The only bill that is in-network is the hospital. All the others refuse to participate in the network.
Why? Because they know you have no choice. Being out of network the other providers can bill what they want without worrying about insurance adjusted rates. That procedure that insurance says is worth $200.00 is now billed at $2,000.00 by the doctor. Without insurance coverage you are now stuck with the entire bill. And since it was out of network the amount does not apply to your deductible as out of network costs are not covered by insurance.
A maximum out of pocket stated by your insurance company of $7,000.00 for the year could well mean that you will really pay $100K or more in that year if all the providers are out of network.
Insurance companies have screwed the policy holders. Insurance companies have screwed the providers. Now the providers have found a way around the system and can bill what they want for people that have no choice of provider. The policy holders are now stuck with paying a lot for little to no coverage.
No. Because out of network is not covered or recognized by the insurance company. Out of network is now the same as no insurance.
Yes indeed. But there is currently no other provide on the affordable care act in my part of TN. I have to use them or have nothing. Having nothing is of course against the law.
The doctors that admit patients to the hospital (i.e. internists, OB-GYNs, cardiologists, etc.) don’t work for the hospital. They just have admitting privileges there. The ER is probably contracted out to a company that runs hospital ERs. The radiology, pathology, and anesthesia are usually contracted out to groups that provide the physicians for the departments.
Why? Because they know you have no choice. Being out of network the other providers can bill what they want without worrying about insurance adjusted rates.
It’s not that simple. When my wife was doing anesthesia at a hospital as an independent physician, she was under a lot of pressure to join all the networks at the hospital she practiced at. In general, she signed up, but there were some plans that offered her less than half what the others did and she refused to join.
Yes indeed. But there is currently no other provide on the affordable care act in my part of TN. I have to use them or have nothing. Having nothing is of course against the law.
“The GOP Tax Bill Repeals Obamacare’s Individual Mandate. Here’s What That Means for You”
http://fortune.com/2017/12/20/tax-bill-individual-mandate-obamacare/
Didn’t Trump say the IRS will not enforce the no-insurance penalty? Just do without.
How about a Google Docs doc, which you can then share?
Having nothing is of course against the law.
Didn’t the Redumblicans strip out the mandate?
Others have mentioned voting plans (or actions), so here’s mine: I’ll vote straight Republican for senator, House representative, and state legislature members, solely on the basis of trying to keep Demoscum out of power. (Probably pointless, in the case of US senator, as honest votes will probably keep Gillibrand in and the fix is in even if they don’t). Libertarian for governor, as the Republican candidate is almost as bad as the Dem incumbent, that piece of shit Cuomo. For other offices I’ll vote if I know the person (likely, in the case of local judges and such), otherwise leave blank.
The anti-patient bias that was purposely put into Obama-No-Care is beyond comprehension. It’s all about a big payday for Big Medicine and Big Pharma. The goal is to eliminate all choice in medical care. Concierge care will not be allowed. The gooberment will own all medical facilities, all drug manufacturing, all medical device manufacturing. All employees will be contract employees who work at the pleasure of the gooberment. In time a new word will be created to describe this national socialist/fascist/communist hell, and we will have no say in anything. We will look back on the regimes of Hitler/Stalin/Lenin/Moa as good times.
And that is my optimistic view.
And that is my optimistic view.
“Shut and work until you die. Give us all of your money, slave.”
Seems to be the plan. I’m not sure they can pull it off if folks start using rope and lampposts.
And that is my optimistic view.
“Shut and work until you die. Give us all of your money, slave.”
Seems to be the plan. I’m not sure they can pull it off if folks start using rope and lampposts.
Until lately, they were implementing their socialism piece by piece. Now, they want it all. And the socalled common people are pissed off.
Can I nominate Robert Francis for the first rope and lamppost ? He is not in the Texas mainstream and he knows it. Lying dog !
Can I nominate Robert Francis for the first rope and lamppost ? He is not in the Texas mainstream and he knows it. Lying dog !
Unfortunately, there are not enough ropes or lamp posts to do the job that needs to be done.
All the socialism pieces are already in place. We are a couple of House and Senate seats away from an apocalypse that will not be pretty.
I am glad that I am in my end-of-days. My poor children have no idea what their peers have been led into by the oligarchs, the doombocrat party with the assistance of many redumblican’t double-agents.
I don’t know why I cannot remember the relationship of psia to bar, 1.0 bar = 14.5 psia.
Sigh. I just have a blockage on some of these metric units.
You need some pressure raisin’ brain bran to clear that blockage.
“A.F. Branco Cartoon – Take the Plunge, Again”
https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-take-the-plunge-again/
“This year 2018 more than ever the Democrats are promoting socialism and now more than ever is considered the Socialist Party of America. Political Cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2018.”
Uh, no.
Tesla has the appearance of a real business. I still think that Apple is going to buy Tesla someday.
A lot of Valley retirement plans are counting on that, including those of several of my wife’s relatives.
Regardless of what happens to Tesla, I still predict that an orange jumpsuit is in Musk’s future.
I think that the hospitals here will not even waste on a stamp to bill crimmigrants. You might consider changing her name to Chiquita Morales and then call 911.
I do know some illegally here from south of El Paso and they do just fine at the hospitals.
[snip] If a supplier is out of network, do you at least get the advantage of the reduced rates [snip]
Step 1: find out if the Dr. takes Medicare. If so,
Step 2: call Medicare (1-800-633-4227) and ask to speak to the claims department {Medicare answers the phone 24 hours a day, but claims is 8AM – 7PM Eastern, M-F}. Then ask the claims wonk for the reimbursement amount for each procedure code on each bill.
Step 3: Offer the Dr. the Medicare reimbursement amount + 10% (because Medicare reimbursement amounts are laughably low) if he/she will settle right now.
If the “individual mandate” is really gone, then Obamacare really ought to wither and die, while other solutions develop.
Surely some cash-only providers will pop up, where you pay reasonable prices, and no one has to deal with bureaucracy. Or else some of the (what do you call them?) all-inclusive groups, where you pay a monthly fee, and they take care of you?
But really, Congress needs to pound a stake into the heart of Obamacare, to make it clear that it really is dead. Unlink it from employment, while they’re at it. Then just open up a free insurance market. While I’m dreaming, maybe they’ll also give everyone a pony…
As messed up as health-care is here, I’m glad I’m not in the US any more. We have something line Obamacare, but at least done a bit more sensibly: Doctors don’t get a choice about being “in network” – there basically is nothing else, except for exclusive private clinics for the super-rich. The rates for individual procedures are regulated, so they are the same across all insurance companies. This causes other problems, which I won’t go into, but at least health care costs are predictable for the end consumer.
Step 3: Offer the Dr. the Medicare reimbursement amount + 10% (because Medicare reimbursement amounts are laughably low) if he/she will settle right now.
Not gonna happen. Other insurance providers demand in their contracts that they get the best deal. So if the doc charges you medicare plus 10%, the insurance company will only pay the doc 25% of that amount after their annual audit of the doc’s books.
This causes other problems, which I won’t go into, but at least health care costs are predictable for the end consumer.
Rationing since there are not enough docs and facilities.
Not the ones my wife was offered. The one that demands the lowest price is Medicare and it’s a felony to offer a lower price to anyone else.