The program sold as a way to get more Americans insured has resulted in... a net loss of three million insured Americans.

This story is from January 1st. There were probably some additional sign-ups since then. (I guess.)

Obamacare may have promised health insurance for the masses. But on its first day, itÂ’s left more Americans without coverage than before the law was passed.

More than 4.7 million Americans had their health insurance canceled as a result of any of the thousand-plus-page lawÂ’s new rules, The Associated Press reports, but the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed Tuesday that between federal and state exchanges, just two million Americans have signed up for Obamacare coverage. (RELATED: Obama administration announces net loss of at least 3 million insurance plans)

The Obama administration has yet to announce the final tally of full enrollments, which are only confirmed once customers have made their first payment, but Cato Institute health policy expert Michael Cannon warns that not all those who signed up will complete their purchases, potentially leaving the White House with an even lower bottom line.

Posted by: Ace at 07:08 AM | Comments (282)
Post contains 202 words, total size 1 kb.

Rand Paul announced he was filing a class action lawsuit against the "generalized warrant" regime of the current NSA.

“The question here is whether or not, constitutionally, you can have a single warrant apply to millions of people,” Paul said. “So we thought, what better way to illustrate the point than having hundreds of thousands of Americans sign up for a class action suit.”

Paul said he began collecting signatures about six months ago, and says it’s “kind of an unusual class-action suit” because everyone in America who has a cell phone is eligible to join in the legal action, he said.

He added that Ken Cuccinelli, the current attorney general of Virginia who ran for governor last year, is part of the initiativeÂ’s legal team.

...

Ultimately, the freshman senator says he wants President Obama to follow the constitution.

Paul said we "fought a Revolution" against government abuses such as the generalized warrant.

Peter King, generally a RINO, is "conservative" on one issue, and that issue is non-IRA terrorism, always arguing for the most maximalist response to terrorist threats. He says Rand Paul is spreading "lies" and "fear" about the NSA.

Appearing on Fox News Channel on Sunday, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) defended the National Security Agency from attacks on its intelligence gathering practices. He specifically said the charges made against the NSA by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are “lies” and that he “doesn’t deserve to be a U.S. Senator.”

“Rand Paul does not know what he’s talking about,” King said after being asked to respond to Paul’s comments about the NSA. “And, Rand Paul is really spreading fear among the American people.”

“He was also was comparing General [James] Clapper to [Edward] Snowden,” King continued. “To me, he’s either totally uninformed or he’s part of that hate America crowd that I thought left us in the 1960s.”

“In any event, he doesn’t deserve to be in the United States senate for spreading that type of misperception and absolute lies to be honest with you,” the congressman concluded.

Video of King's Fox appearance at the link, which begins with a portion of Rand Paul's statements.

King insists that no "content" of cell phone calls is being listened to, except when a known terrorist calls a US citizen. I don't know if that's true. But it is not true that the NSA is not gathering content on US citizens' cell phone activity via this "generalized warrant." All your so-called "metadata" (location, call history, etc.) is being gathered in a dragnet and stored, potentially forever.

Posted by: Ace at 10:32 AM | Comments (275)
Post contains 446 words, total size 3 kb.

"Rachel's Show," Eliana Johnson's article is called.

Sources say it is Maddow rather than Phil Griffin who provides MSNBCÂ’s editorial direction, and that she also holds considerable sway over personnel decisions....

Behind her back, colleagues call her “the queen,” a not so subtle suggestion that Maddow gets what Maddow wants. And what she wants is a network filled with young wonks such as Chris Hayes, Ezra Klein, Alex Wagner, and Harris-Perry, whose highbrow intellectualism can, she hopes, push the Democratic party, and the country, to the left.

...

Griffin, who came of age as a sports producer at CNN and then as a booker on the Today show, is, according to a former colleague, “utterly non-ideological.” “He makes decisions,” says the former colleague, “based on 30-day trailing numbers” and lacks a strategic vision. Maddow, who came aboard in 2008, has filled the ideological void. “Alec Baldwin and Martin were outliers; they weren’t part of her inner circle,” says a television insider. “Bashir’s contract was up, he was twisting in the wind when this happened, and he was out of sync with Rachel’s ideology.”

As Maddow’s foes have suffered, her acolytes have prospered — chief among them, 34-year-old Brown University graduate Chris Hayes, who last April replaced Ed Schultz, the warrior progressive from the Plains.

While Phil Griffin is "non-ideological," Maddow is not:

“If you debate for a living, you’re going to lose sometimes. Sometimes your preconceptions are wrong — that has never happened to her one time,” says a former colleague. “She is actually not that interested in reality; she is the most ideological person I’ve ever met. That is not somebody you want in charge of your programming, because she might put on a great show, but she cannot make rational decisions — her agenda is changing America. . . . She really thinks she is changing America for the better. You can’t have somebody like that in charge of your programming.”

The article notes that Maddow's Goons, particularly Chris Hayes, are garnering poor ratings and this is even hurting Maddow's numbers, due to a weak lead-in.

Posted by: Ace at 09:36 AM | Comments (411)
Post contains 372 words, total size 3 kb.

Dave in Texas and I discuss Justified, Acting School, and politics with Peabody Award-Winning International Film and Television Star Nick Searcy.

[MP3 Download] | Subscribe: [RSS] | [iTunes]

Follow on Twitter:
AoSHQ Podcast (@AoSHQPodcast)
Ace (@AceofSpadesHQ)
Drew M. (@DrewMTips)
Gabriel Malor (@GabrielMalor)
John E. (@JohnEkdahl)
Andy (@TheH2 and @AndyM1911)

Open thread in the comments.

Posted by: andy at 06:50 AM | Comments (464)
Post contains 66 words, total size 1 kb.

Happy Monday.

San Antonio gets the first bookless library.

Augmented reality tech is coming along.

Liz Cheney is ending her bid to unseat Wyoming GOP Sen. Enzi. [Updated, 7:06am -- Cheney's official statement cites serious health issues in the family. I'm sure prayers would be appreciated.]

Oh, and if you missed it on Sunday, Gov. Romney accepted Melissa Harris Perry's apology, as expected -- with the caveat that kids should be off limits. Did anyone think Romney wouldn't be gracious about this?

Our first podcast of the new year is below. We make some predictions about how things are going to be this year, and, for my money, Andy's first prediction has already come true.

[ RSS]

[On iTunes]

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:53 AM | Comments (281)
Post contains 107 words, total size 2 kb.

Tomorrow is the Most Depressing Day of the Year

Or at least the day of the most depressed whinging on social media.

Tomorrow is set to be the most depressing day of the year, according to a new study.

Extensive analysis of social media reveals that the first Monday back at work in January is the most miserable.

On the other hand if you do get through Monday, you're past the hump.

Melissa Harris-Perry Weeps to Keep Her Job

Over her mocking of Romney and his adopted black grandson. Of course now she claims that any offense was unintentional but Dan Riehl points out that this is a lie and the entire segment was an exercise in snark and there wasn't any other reason to show Romney and his grandson.

And Rick Moran has a theory on why MSNBC hosts seem to have such a problem with behaving decently on the air (Martin Bashir and Alec Baldwin have already lost their jobs after one transgression too many):

Harris-Perry, Baldwin, Bashir, Schultz, and Hayes are not doing anything differently in front of the camera than they do when in casual conversation among themselves and their liberal friends. The wildly exaggerated caricatures of conservatives they routinely use to describe their political opponents - ascribing evil intent to every action, every utterance - is part of liberal culture. It's a laziness of thought and mind that has become second nature to them. And, secure in their arrogant belief of moral superiority, they fail to see their own racism, their own bigotry, their own hateful, hurtful attitudes unless someone steps out and throws it in their face.

It makes you think, what are they apologizing for? They're not sorry. This is how they talk. This is what they think.

To the left conservatives are the evil Other and so the usual bounds of decent behavior simply do not apply to them.

And believe it or not the Romney-grandson mocking is only the 5th dumbest thing Melissa Harris-Perry has said in 2013. And then you have some of her greatest hits from previous years.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:06 PM | Comments (877)
Post contains 1142 words, total size 12 kb.

• NY Times, Keeping The Fantasy Alive
  
• This Is What Happens When You Try To Rob The Home Of A MMA Fighter
  
• 49,000 Medicaid Cards Mailed To The Wrong Addresses
  
• Powerful Super Volcano Beneath Yellowstone Could Wipe Out Civilization
  
• Unemployment Benefits
  
• States' Rights Going To Pot?
  
• Detroit Police Chief Voices Support For Concealed Carry
  
• 50 States Of Obamacare Confusion
  
• Maybe Syria Wasn't A Great Success For Obama
  
• Rand Paul Says His Son Was Accidentally Enrolled In Medicaid
  
• US Coast Guard To Rescue Ships Trapped In The Antarctic
  
• 2013: The World's Biggest Losers
  
• Weapons Found In Palestinian Embassy In Prague
  
• Komen Foundation Saw A Large Drop In Donations In 2013
  
• The Congressman Who Went Off The Grid
  
• Mitt Romney Accepts MSNBC Apology
  
• Iraqi Army Attempts To Retake Fallujah
  
• GMO Fight Exposes Green Hypocrisy
  
• De Blasio Brings A New Era To NYC
  
• This Seems Like A Reasonable Position
  

Hey. Hey you. Follow me on twitter.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:16 AM | Comments (407)
Post contains 160 words, total size 3 kb.

For all of your non-astronomy needs, here's your open thread.

Fire away.

Posted by: CAC at 02:02 PM | Comments (318)
Post contains 16 words, total size 1 kb.

And the burning question of the day: boxers or briefs?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 12:08 PM | Comments (72)
Post contains 20 words, total size 1 kb.

[We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Thread Directly Below This One, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related to this Topic]

This week, we continue exploring our Winter Sky and turn our eyes to Gemini, the most famous set of stick figures in the heavens above. Half-in, half-out of the Milky Way from our perspective, there aren't as many targets as can be found in neighboring Orion, but with negative temps in much of the country this time of year, they are all worth the hunt. Read on, and I'll show you. more...

Posted by: CAC at 02:03 PM | Comments (28)
Post contains 1221 words, total size 10 kb.