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Author Topic: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014  (Read 769871 times)

Offline brokebacktom

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #750 on: November 05, 2013, 03:10:35 PM »
Got back from voting, a couple of hours ago.  Turn-out is light to moderate, but, indications so far are that the Democrat will win for governor of the Commonwealth.  Which would be a big slap in the face to the Tea Party, whose creature he is.

I hope so. If it is not, then the Dems will suffer in the 2014 elections.

Offline brokebacktom

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #751 on: November 05, 2013, 03:37:29 PM »
just got a new job. they cut benefits. NO Healthcare. I went to look for an individual coverage. The cheapest I could fine was $167.50 a month. Can't afford it. What can I do? I'm scared.

Offline fritzkep

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #752 on: November 05, 2013, 04:59:45 PM »
Amen, Tony.

From what I've been hearing, overall turnout has been above average for this off-off-year election.

Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen, "Verweile doch! Du bist so schön..."

Offline fritzkep

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #753 on: November 05, 2013, 05:00:47 PM »
Tom, can you determine yet whether you'll qualify for any of the subsidies under the ACA?

Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen, "Verweile doch! Du bist so schön..."

Offline doodler

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #754 on: November 05, 2013, 05:58:55 PM »
S167 a MONTH? That's the cheapest I've ever heard of.

And I doubt this election is going to foreshadow anything. Not a big enough sample. It's like the flipping of a coin... if you do it just once and it comes up heads, it doesn't mean it will the next time.
In 2010, 606 people (all ages) were accidentally killed by guns.
Almost 3000 teens (15-19) die in traffic accidents a year.
1100 kids under 19 drown each year.
44 kids under 5 died of heat stroke in hot cars in 2013.
HIGH school sports account for 1.2 million trips to the ER annually.

Offline brokebacktom

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #755 on: November 05, 2013, 07:34:44 PM »
S167 a MONTH? That's the cheapest I've ever heard of.

And I doubt this election is going to foreshadow anything. Not a big enough sample. It's like the flipping of a coin... if you do it just once and it comes up heads, it doesn't mean it will the next time.

but i can't afford it.  i'll have cut somewhere but where? I refinance beginning of this year, so that helped. Save $150.00/month. I really don't know what to do?

Offline garyd

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #756 on: November 05, 2013, 09:34:16 PM »
but i can't afford it.  i'll have cut somewhere but where? I refinance beginning of this year, so that helped. Save $150.00/month. I really don't know what to do?

So, Tom, here are some questions.
How large is the company for whom your currently went to work?
Did you apply for coverage through your State exchange?
If you can't afford the plan you chose, (if through the exchange), do you qualify for a subsidy?
If you do not qualify for the subsidy, which as I understand it is a tax credit which  may be useless if you don't make enough to need a tax credit, then why would you not qualify for the Medicaid option?  

The ACA is supposed to be designed to assist those who are in your situation.
I am not being facetious and I certainly do not pretend to understand the ACA (that may sound facetious but, trust me, it is not).  I am sincerely interested.  Why is this not working for you?  
« Last Edit: November 05, 2013, 09:49:53 PM by garyd »

Offline garyd

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #757 on: November 05, 2013, 09:55:51 PM »
Here is an article that kind of, sort of, explains the problem Tom may be facing.  It uses California as a template but Tom's situation should not be too much different. If it is different, then what is the difference and why is the ACA not working for him?
http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Lower-2014-income-can-net-huge-health-care-subsidy-4891087.php

Offline Marge_Innavera

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #758 on: November 06, 2013, 05:27:36 AM »
Got back from voting, a couple of hours ago.  Turn-out is light to moderate, but, indications so far are that the Democrat will win for governor of the Commonwealth.  Which would be a big slap in the face to the Tea Party, whose creature he is.

McAuliffe wins nailbiter Virginia governor's race

"A bitter, divisive race between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is over and it turned out to be a nailbiter.  McAuliffe defeated Cuccinelli in a surprisingly razor-thin 47-46 percent victory to become Virginia's next governor, breaking a long Virginia tradition going back to 1977 of voting for a governor from the opposing party of the sitting president.

~        ~        ~        ~

"According to exit polls, both McAuliffe and Cuccinelli did very well among their own partisans - each getting more than nine in 10 votes from members of their own parties. Cuccinelli had a nine-point edge among independents, who make up three in 10 voters in Virginia. But McAuliffe did better than Cuccinelli in getting out his base: slightly more voters described themselves as Democrats (37 percent) than Republicans (32 percent).  McAuliffe also won among voters under 45 and college graduates - both groups that McDonnell won four years ago - and he led among moderates (22 points) and women (9 points)."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57611013/mcauliffe-wins-nailbiter-virginia-governors-race/

(The rest is a fairly lengthy summary)
" 'Red' states are the meth labs of democracy."

Offline Paul029

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #759 on: November 06, 2013, 05:36:00 AM »
I agree with you, Paul.
Thanks, Jess.

Quote from: janjo
In the great scheme of things, I am not important, human life is not important, the planet will adjust itself and get on without me, but, I am important to me, my children and grandchildren are important to me, my friends and family are important to me, the culture associated with human civilization, our history, our writers, William Shakespeare, (come on William, don't be pressured by those Tudor propagandists  :D), and Jane Austen are important to me, our arts and everything about our lives here and now, are important to me.
I’m delighted to know that you’re not a nihilist, Jess.  :D

Unlike Macbeth, who after hearing of his wife’s suicide, says that human life has no meaning or purpose and whose pessimism leads him to say that life itself is “but a walking shadow,” insubstantial, a nothing.
In a way, his speech could also possibly be seen as being rather defensive, even self-justifying, in that his crimes also “signify nothing.” (Which is open to argument, of course.)

If so, perhaps it’s also the approach taken by others who are, perhaps, presently unaware of the consequences of their deeds.

I recently came across a site (Countercurrents.org) in which Mary Hamer deplores the way that the earth’s crust is being imperilled by the building of massive reservoirs, the injection of toxic and nuclear waste, underwater nuclear bomb tests on ocean sea beds, drilling to extract oil, fracking and the erection of immense skyscrapers.

The Taipei 101 tower, for instance, currently the tallest building on earth, with a weight of 700 thousand tons of steel and concrete, was constructed only 600 feet from an ancient fault line, and has, as reported in The Guardian,

“raised concerns about similar man-made megastructures as it’s thought to have triggered two recent earthquakes because of the stress it exerts on the ground beneath.”

According to the geologist Cheng Horng Lin, from the National Taiwan Normal University, the stress from the skyscraper may have reopened an ancient earthquake fault.
Before the construction of Taipei 101, the Taipei basin was a very stable area with no active earthquake faults at the surface. Its earthquake activity was similar to parts of the UK, with micro-earthquakes (less than magnitude 2) happening about once a year.

However, once Taipei 101 started to rise from the ground, things changed. “The number of earthquakes increased to around two micro-earthquakes per year during the construction period (1997 to 2003). Since the construction finished there have been two larger earthquakes (magnitude 3.8 and 3.2) directly beneath Taipei 101...” says Dr Lin.


Despite its excessive capitalisation, Hamer’s article, “The Rape Of The Earth And The Human Ego,” is worth reading for the connection she makes with such things as human-induced earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic and other seismic-related activity.

Quote from: janjo
We must not let our actions destroy all of this because of stupidity and greed, something we are in danger of doing.
We are clever enough to avoid it, but do we have the will?
If the evidence of current “progress” is anything to go by, I'd doubt it, Jess.


...there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain...

Offline Paul029

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #760 on: November 06, 2013, 06:01:09 AM »
Nature is far more powerful than we are, we should be afraid for our own sakes of tweaking her tail.
I agree with you, Jess.
Unfortunately, though, when I earlier wondered whether those who think that it doesn’t matter whether human beings are made extinct had informed their children and grandchildren that human life was no more important than a random virus, they were, sadly, silent.

Talk’s pretty cheap, it would seem, when it’s easy—when the big questions are asked, though, it seems to be a different matter. Perhaps the issue was too intrusive; but, still...

Each of us has a responsibilty to future generations. It’s not our world which will be destroyed (and even that’s open to doubt, at the moment)—it’s theirs.

What the deniers of climate change are declaring by saying human life is insignificant, that it doesn’t matter whether Homo sapiens exists or not, and that it’s egotistical to think we deserve to survive is:

“We don’t care about you. We will be long gone—Oh, and good luck!”

How can anyone look in their childens’ eyes and say that?


...and I've yet to even mention Teilhard de Chardin. Sorry, Tony.  :)  

Let alone the concept of “The Grand Scheme of Things.”

Apparently something engraved in stone, also known as “The Easy Way Out.”  :D

...there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain...

Offline brokebacktom

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #761 on: November 06, 2013, 07:37:46 AM »
So, Tom, here are some questions.
How large is the company for whom your currently went to work?
Did you apply for coverage through your State exchange?
If you can't afford the plan you chose, (if through the exchange), do you qualify for a subsidy?
If you do not qualify for the subsidy, which as I understand it is a tax credit which  may be useless if you don't make enough to need a tax credit, then why would you not qualify for the Medicaid option?  

The ACA is supposed to be designed to assist those who are in your situation.
I am not being facetious and I certainly do not pretend to understand the ACA (that may sound facetious but, trust me, it is not).  I am sincerely interested.  Why is this not working for you?  


Well, I changed jobs. I'm trying to get into the Medical Field, Medical receptionist. But with NO luck. Not enough experience. Loved my internship at a clinic. They loved me too. But with no luck either. I got this Medical Assembly job thru a temp service. This temp service offered benefits. The reason I took it. With the new ASA law they changed it and it really doesn't meet the ASA requirements for Healthcare. So, they told to look for a private source. I also took this job because it was a second shift, so I could donate some time in the afternoon at a clinic in order to get experience. I have a more paying jobs with benefits starting next month in order to advance my job in the medical field. I really don't know what to do now? I'm on my last nerve and to top it off it coming to the year anniversary of my mother's death. Its actually tomorrow.  So, I'm in a pickle.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #762 on: November 06, 2013, 07:46:30 AM »
Unlike Macbeth, who after hearing of his wife’s suicide, says that human life has no meaning or purpose and whose pessimism leads him to say that life itself is “but a walking shadow,” insubstantial, a nothing.

You left out my personal favorite part: "a tale told by an idiot."  ;D

 ;)

Meanwhile, speaking of elections, I'm personally aware of something here in Pennsylvania during the run-up that I thought was unusual. Over the weekend I was talking to my dad, and I mentioned that I had received a recorded phone call from former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell urging me to vote for the retention of the incumbent Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. My dad replied that he had received a recorded phone call from former Republican Gov. Tom Ridge urging the same thing!  :o

(I would have voted to retain him anyway. He's a former Philadelphia District Attorney, and I approve of him. He was retained.)

Offline Paul029

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #763 on: November 06, 2013, 08:28:21 AM »

News from the BBC:

Concentrations of warming gases break record


The levels of gases in the atmosphere that drive global warming increased to a record high in 2012.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), atmospheric CO2 grew more rapidly last year than its average rise over the past decade.
Concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide also broke previous records.


Since 1750, global average levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have increased to 141% of the pre-industrial concentration of 278 parts per million (ppm).

The observations highlight yet again how heat-trapping gases from human activities have upset the natural balance of our atmosphere and are a major contribution to climate change,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.

The more we delay action the bigger the risk we cannot stay under the 2 degree Celsius limit that countries have agreed,” he said.

Scientists believe that the new data indicates that global warming will be back with a vengeance, after a slowdown in the rate of temperature increases over the past 14 years.

“The laws of physics and chemistry are not negotiable,” said Michel Jarraud.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24833148

This statement was of particular interest, I thought:

Recent research indicates that the rate of increase in emissions might be slowing down, but the gases can continue to concentrate in the atmosphere and exert a climate influence for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

We can live with that, I suppose—I mean, after all, none of us will be around then (and as it's all part of The Grand Scheme of Things), who really cares?

Is that the consensus here, or merely a minority view?   ;D

...there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain...

Offline Paul029

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #764 on: November 06, 2013, 08:43:13 AM »
You left out my personal favorite part: "a tale told by an idiot."  ;D

 ;)

Sorry about that, Jeff.  :)

Yes, Life is indeed a tale told by an idiot—according to Macbeth, anyway...


...there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain...