Health premiums to double under Obamacare.
Finding out what’s in it: Health premiums to double under Obamacare.
Year: 2013
The future of the social security program is worse than you think.
The future of the social security program is worse than you think.
For the first time in more than a quarter-century, Social Security ran a deficit in 2010: It spent $49 billion dollars more in benefits than it received in revenues, and drew from its trust funds to cover the shortfall. Those funds — a $2.7 trillion buffer built in anticipation of retiring baby boomers — will be exhausted by 2033, the government currently projects.
And this is from the New York Times, of all places! Of course, as soon as any politician suggests instituting any of the reforms suggested in the article the Times will then start screaming bloody murder in protest. They are very good at appearing nuanced and thoughtful about the debt, until someone actually suggests doing something about it.
A close and realistic look at SpaceX’s schedule for 2013.
A close and realistic look at SpaceX’s schedule for 2013.
Not surprisingly, it is expected that the company will fail to achieve all these scheduled launches and milestones. It is also likely that the company will achieve most, given its very successful track record so far.
On Wednesday Apophis will pass the Earth at a distance of 9 million miles, allowing astronomers to gather more data about this asteroid’s orbit and composition.
On Wednesday Apophis will pass the Earth at a distance of 9 million miles, allowing astronomers to gather more data about this asteroid’s orbit and composition.
Having crossed outside Earth’s orbit, Apophis will appear briefly in the night-time sky. Wednesday 9 January will afford astronomers the rare opportunity to bring a battery of telescopes to bear: from optical telescopes to radio telescopes to the European Space Agency’s Infrared Space Observatory Herschel. Two of the biggest unknowns that remain to be established are the asteroid’s mass and the way it is spinning. Both of these affect the asteroid’s orbit and without them, precise calculations cannot be made.
A survey of 9 million students over the past 47 years has found that modern students consider themselves above average in education, self-confidence, and determination, despite test scores showing an actual drop in these skills.
The Obama generation: A survey of 9 million students over the past 47 years has found that modern students consider themselves above average in education, self-confidence, and determination, despite test scores showing an actual drop in these skills.
While students are much more likely to call themselves gifted in writing abilities, objective test scores actually show that their writing abilities are far less than those of their 1960s counterparts. Also on the decline is the amount of time spent studying, with little more than a third of students saying they study for six or more hours a week compared to almost half of all students claiming the same in the late 1980s. Though they may work less, the number that said they had a drive to succeed rose sharply.
And then there’s this:
[O]ne in four recent students responded to a questionnaire called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory with results pointing towards narcissistic self-assessments. Narcissism is defined as excessive self-love or vanity; self-admiration, or being self-centered. [Pyschologist Jean] Twenge said that’s a trait that is often negative and destructive, and blames its boom on several trends – including parenting styles, celebrity culture, social media, and easy credit – for allowing people to seem more successful than they really are.
No wonder they voted for Obama. They are just like him, egotistic, narcissistic, and uneducated.
The study also found that these traits, high self esteem combined with low skills, eventually results in disaster for the individuals involved. They grow up depressed, anxious, and unsatisfied with life.
Consider that a prediction of the future for the country as a whole.
What happens when you set fire to 2,500 ping pong balls?
An evening pause:
Alan Grayson returns to Congress and immediately calls Republicans terrorists.
Leftwing civility: Democrat Alan Grayson returns to Congress and immediately calls Republicans terrorists.
That Democratic voters were willing to re-elect this vicious hateful guy back into Congress is proof to me that these voters really have no good will, are eager to demonize the opposition, and would possibly even approve violence against that opposition to achieve their ends. (Among Grayson’s many offensive acts, he once appeared uninvited at an opponent’s rally and refused to shut up, closing the entire event down. I just can’t find the link at this moment.)
10 Most Common New Year’s Resolutions as Illustrated by Cats
An evening pause:
Curiosity spots a Martian “flower.”
Curiosity spots a Martian “flower.”
Actually, Ian O’Neill notes, it isn’t really a flower but a very interesting geological formation embedded in the rock.
“I am not your peasant.”
The Byrds – Turn. Turn. Turn.
An evening pause: The words, except for the very last line (inserted by Pete Seeger), are from the book of Ecclesiastes.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Read it all, especially the King James version. It is one of the most profound and beautiful poems ever written.
To avoid Obamacare, companies are turning more employees into part-timers while also cutting back on hires.
Surprise surprise! To avoid Obamacare, companies are cutting back, turning more employees into part-timers while also refusing to hire new employees.
And we’ve only just begun. The cost of this bad law is so high it will squelch everything it touches.