ObamaCar
And then there’s this, “The transportation breakthrough America needs!”
A Republican bill to allow insurance companies to continue to offer their old policies is gaining Democratic support.
A Republican bill to allow insurance companies to continue to offer their old policies is gaining Democratic support.
This bill once again proves that the Republicans are the stupid party. This bill is a travesty. It will not solve any problems, but will transfer the disaster to the federal budget. Under Obamacare the insurance companies can’t afford those old health plans since Obamacare now requires them to give insurance to everyone, even the sick who do not have insurance. Thus, they need to charge more to pay for those sick customers. If the old plans are forced on them, they will need significant subsidies from somewhere to stay in business, and this bill gives it to them out of the U.S. treasury. Moreover, the bill only adds more complexity and confusion to the whole mess.
If the Republicans had any brains, they would simply demand repeal at this moment. Repeal is the only real solution, so that we can start over and deal intelligently with the problems of the health insurance industry. It is also the smart political move. If the Democrats refuse to cooperate, they once again will be forced to endorse Obamacare as it collapses. If they go along, the Republicans get what the country needs, while winning politically.
And there’s this: It’s a trap!
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Scientists have discovered a Kuiper Belt asteroid lighter than water.
Scientists have discovered a Kuiper Belt asteroid lighter than water.
Nor is the asteroid small, having a 400 mile diameter. It is thought is is made up mostly of ice, is not very densely packed, and is probably quite porous as well.
China reveals its space station plans.
China reveals its space station plans.
“China Space Station (CSS) will operate in orbit from 2022 to 2032. This period will provide much more opportunities to scientists in China and all of the world after the international space station,” Gu Yidong, president of the China Society of Space Research, said at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research conference here Nov. 3 – 8. The station’s core module is slated to launch in 2018, followed by two laboratory modules in 2020 and 2022. The outpost will be located in an orbit ranging from 350 kilometers to 450 kilometers above Earth and inclined 42 degrees relative to the planet’s equator.
The article describes in detail their research plans on their station, which sound much the same as the kind of research done on ISS. I suspect this is a bit of misdirection. Their station is clearly designed as a prototype interplanetary station, much like Mir. I believe that any research they do on it will be focused around that fact, which will make that research significantly different that the work done on ISS, which is often not very effective and poorly focused.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
One million Californians have had their health plans cancelled.
In the “You like your plan you keep your plan” front: One million Californians have had their health plans cancelled.
The short article is fascinating in that it buries this important fact, focusing instead how one health insurance company is extending its plans for two months for one hundred thousand policies.
A detailed update on the status of spacesuit repairs on ISS, following the July water leak during a spacewalk.
A detailed update on the status of spacesuit repairs on ISS, following the July water leak during a spacewalk.
After additional tools and parts were sent up on both Progress and Cygnus freighters, astronauts on ISS pinpointed the problem and replaced the failed the “fan/pump/separator”. The faulty unit was brought back to Earth for further analysis in the manned Soyuz craft yesterday.
Of the four U.S. spacesuits on ISS, one is still considered faulty and needs to be replaced, which will happen with the next Dragon flight expected sometime in February 2014.
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
The same software guy who refused to certify the Obamacare website as secure is also the same guy who now says the website’s security problems are “limitless.”
The same software guy who refused to certify the Obamacare website as secure is also the same guy who now says the website’s security problems are “limitless.”
He is also the same guy the Obama administration forced out of his job for saying so. As noted at the story above, the House should “subpoena this man.” He will have some very interesting things to say in public.
Two Russian workers were killed and several injured last week while cleaning out a rocket tank at a Russian spaceport.
Two Russian workers were killed and several injured last week while cleaning out a rocket tank at a Russian spaceport.
The article says that the accident occurred because of a failure to follow safety regulations, which suggests that the quality control issues in Russia’s space industry still exist.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the Obamacare contraceptive mandate cannot be imposed on either religious or private organizations.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the Obamacare contraceptive mandate cannot be imposed on either religious or private organizations.
It offends me deeply, as someone who is not religious, that the Obama administration has tried to force its political opinions on religious individuals against their will or beliefs.
A fourth engine burn has put India’s Mangalyaan probe back on course.
A fourth engine burn has put India’s Mangalyaan probe back on course.
The unexpected abort during the previous burn occurred because engineers were testing the primary and secondary electrical coils that operate the engine’s valves.
During the firing on Monday morning, the team was trying to use both the primary and the redundant coils together as part of a trial. However, there was no fuel flow in this mode and the orbiter could not pick up the required velocity or reach the desired higher orbit. … A senior engineer involved in the process said, “Both the coils are working independently (but not if they are switched on together.)
Today’s burn demonstrated that nothing on the spacecraft has actually failed. As expected, simultaneous use of the two coils will no longer be attempted.
Comet ISON is now visible in binoculars, and has a double tail.
Comet ISON is now visible in binoculars, and has a double tail.
The double tail is not that unusual. Many comets sport two tails.
Only a few weeks till the comet makes its closest approach to the Sun, it is appears that ISON is not going to give us much of a show, though the knowledge that will be gained from it will still be substantial.
A Proton rocket successfully launched a Russian military satellite today.
The competition heats up: A Proton rocket successfully launched a Russian military satellite today.
This is Proton’s the third successful launch in a row since July’s spectacular launch crash. It seems they have straightened out their quality control problems, for the moment.
It is time to start considering the worst case scenario for Obamacare.
It is time to start considering the worst case scenario for Obamacare,
that the exchanges continue to malfunction, that plan cancellations go into effect, that insurers see the political winds shifting and stop playing nice with the administration, and that significant numbers of people are left stranded without coverage as a result. Rather than reforming the individual market, which was flawed but did work for some people, Obamacare will have destroyed it and left only dysfunction and chaos in its wake.
The article looks hard at the situation, and sees nothing but disaster. The policies that have been cancelled cannot be reinstated easily, if at all. The people whose policies have been cancelled cannot enroll in a new plan because of the failure of the Obamacare website. The result: Come January large numbers of Americans who once had catastrophic health insurance — to protect themselves against a sudden health emergency — will no longer have that insurance and will be exposed.
The Democrats wanted this, they created this, they demanded this, and now they have given us this. And in a sane world there would be no doubt that come November they would be fired for this. Sadly, I have doubts it is a sane world.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter inaugurates a new website of its images of the landing or impact sites of every human vehicle to arrive or crash on the Moon.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter inaugurates a new website of its images of the landing or impact sites of every human vehicle to arrive or crash on the Moon.
I found the site because they have a new release of images of the impact crater produced when Ranger 7 hit the Moon on July 28, 1964.
72 absurd items Obamacare requires your health insurance to cover.
72 absurd items Obamacare requires your health insurance to cover.
Want to know why Obamacare has forced premiums to skyrocket? Besides forcing insurance companies to provide insurance to those already sick, the law also requires everyone to get the services listed in the article above, most of which no one wants.
I am so glad the Democrats forced this law upon us, and then shut the government down so that it would go into effect on time!
In the states where the Obamacare websites have been mostly functioning, they have only met 3% of their target enrollments.
In the states where the Obamacare websites have been mostly functioning, they have only met 3% of their target enrollments.
The explanation is simple: When people, especially young people, see what these plans cost, they are saying no and refusing to enroll. The product stinks, and people don’t want to buy it.
Getting rid of health insurance and paying your doctor direct.
The future: Getting rid of health insurance and paying your doctor direct.
The only good that might come from Obamacare is that it will so mess up the healthcare insurance industry that medical treatment will be forced to return to the simpler and more efficient system where the patient buys the doctor’s services direct and no insurance is involved.
Twenty-seven genius inventions you can buy now.
Twenty-seven genius inventions you can buy now.
Two Baptist chaplains are suing the Veterans Administration for demanding they stop naming “Jesus” in their prayers.
Freedom in Modern America: Two Baptist chaplains are suing the Veterans Administration for demanding they stop naming “Jesus” in their prayers.
Two Baptist chaplains said they were forced out of a Veterans Affairs chaplain training program after they refused orders to stop quoting the Bible and to stop praying in the name of Jesus. When the men objected to those demands they were subjected to ridicule and harassment that led to one of the chaplains leaving the program and the other being ejected, according to a federal lawsuit filed Friday.
A Soyuz capsule safely returned three astronauts to Earth Sunday.
A Soyuz capsule safely returned three astronauts to Earth Sunday.