And Now, A Message From The DNC

Not only is Debbie drinking the Kool-Aid, she's snorting it dry right from the package:

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said the troubled rollout of ObamaCare's enrollment website, which has frustrated thousands trying to enter the site and bruised the administration, won't hurt Democrats in next year's midterm elections.

Her prediction?

"Democrats will run on the Affordable Care Act and win"

So why does Debbie believe this?

"We know that women are already benefiting significantly from the part of ObamaCare that's already been implemented," she said.

Wasserman Schultz cited the ability of women to receive free birth control and preventative care under the law as examples.

So, they've got the 'promiscuous bimbo' demographic pretty much nailed down. But what about addressing problems caused by the rollout of Obamacare, such as, for example, extending the enrollment deadline because of the website difficulties? No need for any of that, Debbie says:

"We fully expect that that won't be necessary, because the kinks that have occurred through the website are being worked on and are being ironed out," she said. She pointed to the "tech surge" — the team of experts and programmers called in to fix the sites — and said it "is already showing signs of being effective."

"...already showing signs of being effective". A higher standard of proof simply cannot be imagined. Yes, all is well in Debbieland.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 03:38 PM | Comments (290)
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[Update: Science mag runs a piece saying Academia operates like drug cartels]

While conducting an internal audit of publications between January and June 2012, BioMed Central discovered a number of apparent major irregularities in the content and editorial handling of the journal Head & Neck Oncology. In order to maintain the integrity of the BioMed Central portfolio of journals, we decided to cease publication of the journal with effect from 9th August 2012...

The RetractionWatch breadcrumb trail put me onto another related tale of sordidness detailed in this fellow's dissection and documentation of http://www.integrity-ethics.com. They performed a RatherGate style investigative journalism document comparison of text on the PIE website and found that major portions had been stolen directly from other genuinely reputable outfits like Elsevier. "Ethical" behavior apparently involves blatant cut/past plagiarism. This is the new normal I suppose.

A whois lookup of this freshly minted "integrity" and "ethics" group, which appears to be focusing on medical/sciency stuff shows 99.999 pure reagent grade NOTHING. They've hidden all their shit behind a domain cloaking service.

There's something significantly sketchy afoot here, the nature of which isn't entirely clear at this point. Stay tuned. There's sure to be more.

...From Chemistry – A European Journal, “the paper was constructed by copying a number of passages from the paper entitled…The authors apologize for this approach.” As we wrote on Retraction Watch, plagiarism is an “approach” to writing the way bank robbery is an approach to banking...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 07:45 AM | Comments (101)
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Via Byron York....America, you've let Obama down. Again. You're lucky he's still willing to lecture you about how awesome he is.

Maybe our brains just arenÂ’t wired to use a site like HealthCare.gov, whether it works or not.

The exchanges are based on a laudable idea: that competition, transparency and consumer choice will lead to higher-quality, more affordable products. The decisions consumers make will thus have significant implications for their own personal and financial health, as well as the overall sustainability of the exchanges. But despite the good intentions behind the website, behavioral science research suggests that many consumers may be ill equipped to make good decisions in the insurance marketplaces.

Choosing health coverage is particularly challenging. Humans have difficulty making optimal choices under conditions of uncertainty, when weighing probabilities of long-term risks and benefits, and when analyzing complex products with multiple components of unclear relative values. WeÂ’re bad at assessing the likelihood of low-probability events, like winning the lottery or getting in a car accident. We overestimate our ability to repay loans and spend more with credit cards than we would with cash. We struggle with decisions about how to invest our retirement savings and are highly susceptible to the number and types of 401(k) plans weÂ’re offered. In short, we have trouble with precisely the types of issues involved in choosing the right health coverage.

Obama trusted in you and respected you enough to give you choices and you just can't handle it.

What a bunch of stupid simpletons you are!

The only small, barely worth mentioning problem with this theory and quite frankly I'm a little embarrassed to even bring it up, is that there were MORE choices for people BEFORE ObamaCare and it's non-functioning web portal were gifted to us.

Funny how millions of people managed to organize their lives to select their own plans based on cost and coverage as well as pay for them until ObamaCare came along to make it better for them. Now they can't buy insurance and have two weeks or so to scramble to find ways to try and stay covered.

And yet the ungrateful bastards are complaining.

You can see where this is going. Or maybe you can't because your tiny brains can't process all the possible choices available so let me help you out....Single Payer.

Just shut up, pay what the government tells you to pay and let the big brains figure it out for you.

More serious added thought:

A lot of people getting insurance through the market place may be people who are getting insurance for the first time either due to medical conditions or economic circumstances. Those groups could well be ill equipped to deal with the choices, limited though they are, presented by the ACA market places. This is especially true for high subsidy recipients who are being insulated form the true economic reality of their plans. It's hard to make rational decisions when the information is so distorted and disconnected from your actual economic conditions (you might qualify for a "cheap" plan after subsidies but can't afford any of the high deductible costs of the policy you are force to buy).

This is part of the problem, though Obama would see it as a feature. The ACA is redistributing health insurance dollars from people who have them and are used to making informed decisions to people who aren't.

It's not that "people" are too stupid to make good choices (millions and millions of people have been doing it for decades), it's that many core Democrats who will be the recipients of the spreading around of this wealth are.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:45 AM | Comments (163)
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• Tomorrow Is The Deadline For Healthcare.gov, Will It Work?
  
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Follow me on twitter.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:25 AM | Comments (158)
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Leftovers await!

Posted by: andy at 04:09 AM | Comments (161)
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Happy Thanksgiving All!

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:36 PM | Comments (294)
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Holy moly I did not realize there was another one tonight, NFL Thursday game I suppose.

Ok. Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

I hope everyone had a great day, and by great day I mean pie.

Pie is life.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 05:48 PM | Comments (72)
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The turkey thing is spent, over, kaput. By tomorrow it'll be leftovers and garbage bags. In another week it'll be scary science experiments in Tupperware shoved to the back of the fridge.

Christmas gifts are about frivolity -- stuff you don't really need. If you really truly needed something, then you'd have already obtained it previously, because you like...needed it.

If you got $70 in your pocket yearning to be spent on gifting frivolity, you might want to seriously consider this gadget.

The Egg Minder makes sure your day always starts off "sunny side up." You'll never be in a scramble for a good egg again.

Product Specifications

• Device syncs with your smartphone to tell you how many eggs you've got at home and when they're going bad.


• Connects to the Wink app over Wi-Fi


• Compatibility: iOS 6 and above, iPhone 4 and above, and Android phones/tablets with OS 2.2 or higher


• Great for families and impromptu chefs


• LED notification of oldest egg


• App notifications upon low egg inventory


• Check your inventory from the store


• Playful design–kids will love to unpack the eggs


• Capacity: 14 eggs


• Materials: Plastic, acrylic, LED lights, Wi-Fi chip


• Batteries: 2 AA (included)


• Dimensions: 14.6" long x 4.4" wide x 3.2" high

Of course you could simply examine the egg tray in the fridge and get a rough approximation of the egg count, but that kind of stone age thinking is fast falling by the wayside; only dinosaurs do that kinda shit anymore. Modern people need systems to count for them and send critical phone notifications.

As a gag gift for a Neo-Luddite, this thing would be perfect. Do it as a 2-stage gift. Give'em the gizmo first, then hand them another gift -- a hammer. Guaranteed good times and laughs for all.

more...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 04:52 PM | Comments (167)
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With food being on everyone's mind, this is interesting

NOVOSIBIRSK, November 26 (Itar-Tass) - Scientists in RussiaÂ’s Siberian city of Novosibirsk say they have discovered a new way to fight overweight - a diet compliant with a personÂ’s genetic type, the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) says in a report...

...The scientists have found that some people need intensive physical exercise to maintain the optimal weight, whereas for others it would suffice to refrain from one or two types of products, for instance, coffee, beer or dates. Furthermore, depending on a genetic type, even drinking certain beverages can prevent the development of some kinds of tumors or, in contrast, increase the risk of heart disease.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 10:36 AM | Comments (199)
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The comet, now traveling at a fraction of the speed of light, will face scorching heat and extreme gravitational forces as it approaches perihelion, 1:37PM (Eastern) today.
NASA has a Google Hangout today from 1:00 to 3:30 with live updates, and a mirror for the LASCO 3 camera (the direct link keeps crashing from traffic) can be found here.

Oh and most important, this page will have "live" images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, aiming to capture the comets entry and exit.

Here's hoping ISON can bring it.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Posted by: CAC at 08:30 AM | Comments (49)
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