Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktIt looks like some of the big money boys aren’t all that happy with the current GOP field. They’re still urging Gov. Christie to enter the race.
Several dozen potential Christie backers attended a meeting in July convened by Mr. Langone to introduce the governor to top-shelf Republican donors, many of them on the sidelines so far in the 2012 campaign. Others saw him in action in June, when Mr. Christie quietly flew to Colorado to speak at a private retreat hosted by Mr. Koch and his brother, Charles, another prominent Republican donor.
And while Mr. Christie has so far resisted their entreaties, he is facing a renewed effort in recent days following stumbles by Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, whose debate performances and stances on Social Security, immigration and other issues have left many major donors looking again for someone they think can take on Mr. Obama next year.
I’m going to put this in as a link because I still haven’t quite figured out how to put up a video. This guy talks about the looming market crash and Greek default on the BBC.
This is not an entertaining Rick Santelli-style rant, it’s a cool assessment of how the Euromarket crisis is likely to end, which he thinks is very badly. The flummoxed reaction of the BBC host suggests that the trader, Alessio Rastani, was a booking mistake.
And it looks like we dodged the shutdown bullet again.
UPDATE No. 3: Looks like we can all rest easy — at least for the next six weeks.
Senate leaders announced a short-term deal Monday evening that appears likely to avert the partial government shutdown that was set to begin this weekend. The emergency funding in the deal is in line with what the House has already approved, Politico reports.
The reason that Republicans and Democrats were able to compromise is because the major sticking point — whether to offset an increase in emergency funding in fiscal 2011 with cuts elsewhere — is more or less moot now that FEMA has said it will likely have enough cash on hand to continue to hand out relief money through Friday, when the government’s fiscal year ends.
Filed under: Uncategorized |
All Things in Moderation 
Final ACO rule in october
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Totally and frivolously off topic: the premier of Terra Nova was so weak. Ugh.As I said to my son, when you saw Spielberg's name, could you really expect anything better?
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was it bad? i was going to watch it later. but if it stunk, i'll just delete it. we watched "the sing-off"
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It was not good, that's for sure. It was Spielbergesque and bad ways. Effects are decent. Much of it a cliche-fest. (When the little girl started feeding leaves to giant dinos within the first half hour, I almost turned it off as a matter of principle). Some really bad dialogue, lousy acting. But I'll probably watch the next one just to see whether it is going somewhere worthwile.
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in bad ways
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thanks for the review.
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Just remember, it's almost impossible for sci-fi to be too bad for me to watch it, such is my geekiness.
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qb…How about Spielberg's AI? One of the worst movies I have ever seen, and the only one I have ever walked out of. Dreadful.
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I was really excited to see AI. wow did it stink.
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I think we've had this discussion before. I watched all of AI, and I've even seen chunks of it a second time (it did not improve). Chris Rock as a step-n-fetchit butler robot was just bizarre enough that, if that's all I had seen, I might have thought there was an interesting movie in there. As it was, I despised it. Even if I had liked it for most of the movie, how they ended it . . . ugh. Just a mess of a movie. As was War of the Worlds, for the most part. I miss the Spielberg of ET, Schindler's List, even Always. I missed Terra Nova. But I'm patient. I'm missing most of the things I kind of wanted to see. But I didn't start watching Lost until it had been on for four years. Didn't start watching Heroes until the last season (started from the beginning via Netflix). I'm interested in Person of Interest. Terra Nova did not do it for me (I don't like the premise–the only way to get out of the dystopian future is go to the past? This does not make sense to me).
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NoVa- Two things: 1) How many dates were we given for the proposed rules? Will this be different? 2) Does anyone care much at this point? I couldn't find any reason to pay attention to the ACO presentation I was at last week. I played poker on my phone instead. Kevin- I'm with you on Person of Interest, but am trying to cut back on TV or at the very least not add any more TV watching to mylife. Although the actor that pays the "crime fighter", for lack of a better word, seemed average at best in the previews.
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I flipped around a few pundit shows last Sunday morning for the first time in a long while and heard the same thing about people wanting Christie to run. The pundit (I can't remember who he was, nor do I care) didn't think Christie was likely to enter, but held out more hope for Paul Ryan. It is interesting that this sentiment of discontent continues to persist. It has to significantly hurt enthusiasm on the right, doesn't it? The whole tortoise and the various hares aspect of the Republican nomination is interesting. Slow and steady Romney vs Trump, Bachmann, Perry….who's next?
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Scott,Indee, AI. Terrible. I had even forgotten that one, perhaps blocked it from memory. I hold a special grudge against Spielberg for his many crimes against SciFi film done with huge budgets, going all the way back to ET.I also have found some of the other big-budget, high-concept films like Robots, Minority Report, and Inception to be somewhat painful. I hate Robots because I first saw it in the middle of a horrific overseas flight in United economy. The movie became like a waking nightmare (of sleepless tedium).Of course, I'm really sort of a Star Wars hater, too, so go figure.
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Kev, Lost = one of the dumbest and most boring shows ever imo. (Sorry!)I am totally a Fringe guy, although I hate when they avoid the main story arcs and do "monster of the week."
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I have no reason to believe that October won't slip until Nov. It's a parlor game. Reason to care — it has been pretty quiet on the ACO front. but let's see what happens with the SGR and the super committee. lots of moving pieces right now on who is going to get whacked and by how much. MedPAC was kind of pushing for a revised ACO model to accompany SGR reform.
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QB: I loved Lost. The final season was a little weak, but, on the whole, I loved the show. The first five seasons rocked. Of course, I watched the first 3-and-a-half seasons pretty much non-stop, so it was like watching one long moving. Then I watched the first 4 seasons, again, non-stop with my family, and it was a great experience. I'm not sure I'll have another TV watching experience like Lost again, so . . . I will always love that show. And Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson were insanely awesome in that show. Loved it, loved. Last season was a bit weak, but I still, in the long run, loved the show. At some point, I'm going to dive into Fringe.I saw most of the first season, but haven't seen it since.
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Kevin, qb (and other geeks): have you seen the new Battlestar Galactica? Taroya clued me in on that and I've been totally hooked! Netflix is my friend. . .
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I enjoyed I, Robot (I assume that's the one you are talking about–Robots was an animated kids film from Dreamworks that kinda flopped). Was not great. I enjoyed Inception, but it also was not great (it was good, though, I'll probably watch it again sometime). I'll agree on Minority Report. Sloppy, paint-by-the-numbers. Also, some films, I easily forgive the absurd propositions (why I didn't mind I, Robot, although it was absurd in so many ways). Minority Report, I could never get over the street system being all track based, including tracks that went up buildings and whatnot. It'd take a century to install that many tracks, and with zoning and protests–it'd take 10 centuries. And this is supposed to be, what, 30 years in the future? And the wood balls . . . Meh, the whole thing. Stretched my credulity too far without there being a reason to do so. The movie we're never going to see that I'd like to see? Michael Crichton's State of Fear. The movie (for multiple reasons) would need to take away some of the anti-environmental movement morality arguments . . . but the high-tech action in that book is aweeesssommmmee.
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Michgoose: That's what I hear. I heard that about Lost, and it took me forever to start watching. Then, when I did, it was like eating popcorn. One of these days, I'll get into Galactica.
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Checking in to say that while I love Sci-Fi, always have, this year I'm waiting for DEXTER.And this showed up on Reuters.The cost of health insurance continues to climb for companies and workers, with annual family premiums this year growing at a pace triple that of 2010 and outpacing wage increases, according to a survey.As the United States continues to grapple with a stubbornly weak economy, family premiums in employer-sponsored health plans jumped 9 percent this year and single premiums rose 8 percent, compared with 2010's 3 percent and 5 percent, the Kaiser Family Foundation's annual study, published Tuesday, found.The survey found that, on average, employees are contributing 28 percent, or about $4,129, a year toward employer-sponsored family plans. That is 131 percent more than a decade ago.Including employers' contributions, the overall premium has increased 113 percent since 2001 to $15,073 a year.More workers, especially in smaller firms, continue to join high-deductible health plans. Thirty-one percent of covered employees this year have to pay at least $1,000 in single plans before coverage kicks in, up from 27 percent last year.
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Premiums didn't go up this year. I'm glad I work for large school system.
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This comment has been removed by the author.
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Here's all the details on the survey lms is referencinghttp://ehbs.kff.org/
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Thanks NoVA. I am being consumed by health care rather than the opposite.
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Kevin, Yes, I meant I, Robot. On the whole, Hollywood has done a horrible, horrible job of putting classic SciFi (and classic SciFi themes) on screen. Obviously, there are exceptions. I can watch some of these films, like Inception and Minority Report, and they are much better than some of the Spielberg schlock. But, meh. Better movies, please.Maybe I would have liked Lost better if I had mainlined it all in a single binge or two. It just lost me ; ) from near the beginning. Don't know why, it just didn't click for me. It just annoyed me most of the time, and I stopped watching.Michi, I haven't seen the new BG but know it has a lot of fans. I thought the Sarah Connor Chronicles was pretty good, too, but it didn't last.
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lms — Just wait until I post my MeDPAC blub for you.
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I just dropped my email in at the Plumline to jnc4p so we'll see if he #1 sees it and #2 responds. We seem to be heavily leaning conservative here with the girls so busy, so I'm also watching for Georgia. Not that I don't like conservatives or anything, lol.
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In homage to Glenn Reynolds, the told me that if I voted for John McCain the government would silence critics and crush dissent, AND THEY WERE RIGHT!(NRO link re Ford Motor Co.)
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lms — he posted that he wrote to you.
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NoVA, at least you'll have an audience of one. I'm interested in the ACO's as well even though there doesn't appear to be much progress. I think health is really the issue of the decade.
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Okay here I go. So far no other comments at the Plumline.
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Good going, lms.I am still trying to figure out my PL problem, although I can post through the work server, and Bethonie actually sent me a nice note saying I'm not banned and she's there to help! I must not have reposted my address quickly enough for Tao to see again the other day."We seem to be heavily leaning conservative here with the girls so busy"It's just the overwhelming sense presence and strenghth of arguments Scott and I bring to the table. ; ) I'm trying to remember which other lefties are still untapped. Perhaps if things get silly enough at PL, banned will have second thoughts.
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I'm not sure why shrink and bernie aren't showing us more love. ruk is on vacation up on Lake Superior right now, so that explains his absence.
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Don't the the details yet, but Ryan just gave a speech on the "replace" part of reform. Ryan reiterated his support for Medicare and block granting Medicaid to the states, while voicing support for reshaping tax breaks for employer-sponsored health insurance. This will be all over the trade press tomorrow, so I'll be able to post some details then.
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http://budget.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=261812text of ryan's speech
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Apparently bernie looked, didn't like what he saw, and left. I'm guessing something similar is true of Jzap. I was really hoping Jzap would participate. But, ah well. I think Shrink decided it wasn't for him, either. Nothing we can do about that, but try and find other folks. We need more people generally, so that when certain folks aren't available, it doesn't seem to be all conservative or liberal. Having been in a group where I was the only conservative, it ends up not being any fun, or particularly edifying, for the one guy or gal. Seems to me this would be an excellent place for banned. Hope he does give us a chance at some point.
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Shrink seems permanently to have left in a huff; strange given that it wasn't that long ago that he was saying (at PL) that conservos like me are just like the Norway shooter and a danger to society. I will be surprised if Bernie participates here. I just don't think it's his cup of tea.
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Speaking of shrink, his name here now reads "-". When I was at PL last night and this morning, I saw that some of banned's comments were replied to by the usual members of the loony brigade just basically calling him names and the like. He and Bernie did have one exchange which was then also taken over by the loons.
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Shrink can de-member himself, I wonder why he hasn't. Well, whatever. I would like to see banned give us a chance. "Loony brigade". Heh.
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I'm not too worried about who decides not to participate, I'm more interested in adding to our list of contributors so we keep it interesting and fresh. I've emailed jnc, so we'll see.Maybe liberals just lead busier lives………just kidding.
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Well, I got all torqued at Scott with his abortion discussion and I came back after cooling down for a bit. I think we just have to understand what discussions we're (as an individual) not going to participate in because they will be either unproductive or too upsetting. We're all grownups.But a few more folks would be useful. . .
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Agreed, a few more useful. But this is only, what, two weeks old? If you build it, they will come.I'm super busy with work, too. Apparently I am just addicted or a slacker, or both.
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Kevin,Not sure I want to see or even hear a lot about people "de-member[ing]." ; )
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@michi: "Well, I got all torqued at Scott with his abortion discussion and I came back after cooling down for a bit."I refer you to my 5th rule of engagement: "5. Take it down a notch. People will slip, and say things that are rude, or absolutist, or hubristic. Your role, in that situation, should probably be to talk them down off the ledge, not get up there with them. Just sayin'."It's good to keep in mind in a discussion where we feel we're clearly right, we can come off sounding a lot ruder and combative than we sound to us, in our heads, while we're typing. It's also good to keep in mind that when someone says something that strikes us as rude, or insulting, or infuriating . . . it's because they aren't quite hearing how they sound to the person they are disagreeing with . . . lmsinca: "Maybe liberals just lead busier lives………just kidding."Not if Plum Line is any indication. Ba-dum-dum!
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"I'm super busy with work, too. Apparently I am just addicted or a slacker, or both."This is me. After I bailed on one group, and could no longer get to Plum Line, I was kind of happy–I was focusing on work. Then I exchanged a few emails with Mark and lmsinca and suddenly we've got this, and I feel quasi-responsible, so I've got to try and keep it going . . . 🙂
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I can post short blurbs. that posting I had last week took more time than I'm going to have (normally) — but I'm happy to do just that. I'll have something up in a minute.
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We can't stay away from contentious issues and some of the discussion will become heated, we just have to think before we hit "post", how is this going to sound? We also need to remember that not everyone has the same information, as in facts and statistics, at their fingertips and are speaking from a belief system. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with debating an issue that you're not necessarily intimately familiar with, as long as you argue in good faith. It's just another avenue to our continuing education. Also too, facts are very often debatable anyway as they're open to interpretation.
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Well, ATiM is my refuge for the week during breaks in the unpacking. I'm still not sure which (the packing or the unpacking) is worse!Yesterday my breaks were spent (pssst!! lms!!!!) riding around with a hunky young cop in his squad car looking at course routes for the RFTC next spring. Men in uniform. . . {{{{sigh}}}}.
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This piece by Obama supporter Ted Leonsis (Paypal) objecting to Obama's class warfare tack has been getting some notice.It seems highly unlikely the WH cares about such complaints. The reason is in Leonsis's column itself: class warfare attacks are likely poll-tested for political purposes and have zip to do with good policy. Even if they aren't poll tested, there's no chance Obama is going to roll it back. It's what he believes.
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"Then I exchanged a few emails with Mark and lmsinca and suddenly we've got this, and I feel quasi-responsible"Which makes it all the easier for me to say, I blame Kevin.
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michi, now that sounds interesting. Like Kevin, I'm probably a little to invested in the success of this little experiment. I think we're doing great so far and we just plow ahead and contribute as much as our time allows, which will obviously be different for everyone.
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Oh, it was lms! My (married) cop friend who has been in charge of the race detail for years read my mind and brought him to our meeting last Tuesday to introduce him to me as my "point of contact" for this coming year's Race. He wasn't even slightly subtle about it, either.Men are such romantics sometimes!
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I've got a new post up. but not on MedPAC
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"Yesterday my breaks were spent (pssst!! lms!!!!) riding around with a hunky young cop in his squad car looking at course routes for the RFTC next spring. Men in uniform. . ."Hmmm…this is becoming a hostile blogging environment. No love for men in suits?Kevin mentioned zoning issues above which is funny because I spent 4 hours at a local City Council meeting wherein a rather heated discussion occurred about a zoning issue. I was there on a completely different issue, but it was an interesting experience nonetheless.
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Oh, man, I totally missed this thread!Never watched AI, didn't want to. Did catch most of Terra Nova, and my main question was, "Well, won't that screw up the timeline?" but they explained that.I didn't think it was all that bad. Time will tell.Didn't get as torqued over the abortion thing as much as I thought I would. I am glad that I was able to discuss it somewhat coherently for a change. I can't stay away from contentious issues, nor do I want to. I don't have to be mean or hateful, though. Just … contentious.The new BG is the bomb! The ultimate bomb! Person of Interest did sound good, what channel is it?Another I would like to see continued: Lie To Me. And the sequel to BG, Caprica. That was going very well, then they canned it. I think that the subject was too controversial for them, as it was filling in the background for Battlestar Galactica and how the Cylons came to be.We will need more people to contribute. I notice that it is mostly the same ones here. Admitted, we could get to be quite a tight Internet group, but more blood would be very good.
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It's something about the boots, ashot. ;-)I don't know about where you are in MI, but some of the most heated discussions during SLC Council meetings are the zoning ones. We've got an ongoing one with one of the neighborhoods trying to keep its "historical" flavor and outlawing certain types of housing renovations. The other big one involves (surprise!) WalMart wanting to re-zone a piece of property in the middle of an existing mainly residential neighborhood for a store. I'm only half surprised shots haven't been fired yet, given the concealed carry laws in this state!Oh, and NoVA, I went and commented on your post. I'm still thinking about it and may come back with more later.
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I was at the Southfield City Council meeting on behalf of a client (good thing for them we are on a retainer and not hourly) and the issue was a new dorm being built by Lawrence Tech University. The dorm was basically going to be built in the backyards of some of the people. I feel bad for them because the housing market is bad enough without adding the fact that there is a dorm in your backyard, a frat house down the street and the school publically acknowledges wanting to own all the land there. Nobody is going to buy one of those houses so there is no choice but to sell it to the school who, according to 1 resident who spoke, is offering around $50,000 for a 2 acre parcel. That's probably not entirely unfair, but still ouch!So shiny wing tips don't do it for you? How about cowboy boots. I got me a pair of them.
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Hmmmmm–cowboy boots would work, too. They aren't red, are they??
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Haha…Is that a How I Met Your Mother reference? No, they aren't red, but I could totally pull off red cowboy boots.
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Yes that was, and I don't care how tall, dark and handsome you are, ashot, I seriously doubt it! Even if the cute salesgirl told you you could. . . 😉
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