Re: Friday

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I meant to say public opinion, not attention, but I'm posting from my phone, so it stays.


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:08 AM
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I'm at parent teacher conferences all morning, and I have to vent: Hawaii aces the math standardized test every year, and she has the top math score in the class. I said to the teacher, yeah, I'm a math teacher. He says "maybe I'll add her to my pre-algebra group! she'll have to catch up a bit."

I'm suspicious as to why she wasn't already in this group, and I assume it's because he picked kids partially based on gut feeling. This is what happened to me all the way through, and I have a chip on my shoulder that no one ever thought I was good at math. Whereas Pokey is constantly getting offered special opportunities to learn more.

I suspect non-white students are also underrepresented in his special math group.


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:12 AM
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If kids get into advanced math, it's going to be a gateway to amphetamines.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:15 AM
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2.1: You say you're a math teacher, not a math professor? This is no time to be modest.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:17 AM
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New Warren plan for financing single-payer - ambitiously from a wonk perspective (not in a bad way), proposes to do it without new taxes on anyone but the wealthy.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:20 AM
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5: I've been discouraged at the reaction of Har /// old Poll /// ack to the Medicare 4 All plans. He says that they would be lucky to get 20 votes in the Senate, and are only going to hurt the Dems in the general election. He's a boomer, but one that knows a lot about health care policy and generally seems to have good intentions.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:41 AM
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Yeah, but the NYT reports that it will cost $20.5 trillion. That's a lot of money! Where will it come from? I mean, I know she's not going to raise taxes on the middle class, but let's face it, expenses for corporations and the wealthy inevitably trickle down. And how can companies afford this? The article in the NYT isn't clear:

Ms. Warren would use a mix of sources to pay for the $20.5 trillion in new spending over a decade, including by requiring employers to pay trillions of dollars to the government, replacing much of what they currently spend to provide health coverage to workers.

"Replacing much." How much? 50 percent? 95 percent? 100 percent? That's not important! What's important is that it will cost $20.5 trillion over an unimportant period of time (10 years, as we find out in paragraph 13).


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:42 AM
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7: Read my Medium link - that's her campaign's writeup with a lot more detail.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:43 AM
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6: I like HP but stopped following him in a Twitter purge a while ago. Checking, he seems to view not these specifics but going hard on M4A in general (Warren's or Sanders's) as a liability. So I don't think this judgment represents so much him applying his expertise, but the super-familiar political debate on what kind of proposal is helpful versus so ambitious as to be counterproductive.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:49 AM
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I have another question about Medicare 4 All. In searching for a new psychiatrist for my stepdaughter I found out there are psychiatrists that work completely out of the health insurance system - they just take cash. I'm thinking that this would still be legal under Medicare 4 All. Would more doctors try this?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:55 AM
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3: Depends on how far they go. Julia sets are definitely all about the hallucinogens, whereas non-Euclidean geometry tends toward waking the Great Old Ones and destroying humanity as a whole. Topology, somewhat disappointingly, is just a gateway to donuts and coffee cups.


Posted by: Doug | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:58 AM
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10: Yeah, it's a thing in the UK and Canada and, in the US even, with Medicare. Nothing like a fatal defect, just something to contend with.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:59 AM
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8: Yeah, yeah, but that's just what the candidate says. To get the view of liberals on these things, you have to read the New York Times. Or so I'm told.


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 9:00 AM
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Yeah, but the NYT reports that it will cost $20.5 trillion. That's a lot of money!

My plan for that is to have the mint print out 20 one trillion dollar coins. The other 1/2 trillion we can confiscate from Bezos.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 9:14 AM
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Ezra Klein's piece in Vox is nicely done. I particularly like the way Klein details the differences in Warren's numbers and the ones proposed by the Urban Institute. The NYT glosses over this by mentioning "different assumptions."


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 9:18 AM
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OP.2: I'm annoyed and worried about the fact that impeachment has taken this long. I can guess at logic behind why Pelosi and other leading Dems have handled it this way, but waiting too long has its own risks and all else aside is frustrating.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 9:19 AM
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Light googling: current healthcare spending/yr: US ~18% of GDP, ~$3.5trn; UK ~10% of GDP; 10% of US GDP ~$2.1trn. AIHSHB, the US habit of saying "$ over x years" is obfuscating bullshit. It writes sticker-shock headlines.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 9:19 AM
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16: I'm generally with you on this, but every approach has risks and benefits. I think there's an advantage to waiting until the outrages mount. Pelosi can now argue persuasively that she didn't want to do this, but Trump forced her hand.

I do agree that she waited too long. I also am a bit dismayed that the Democrats seem eager to get it done this year. Hopefully the Republicans will force them to drag it out well into next year.


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 9:28 AM
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Having called around some, reassured in my judgment that those House Republicans open to voting for impeachment simply decided to stick with the party yesterday, and to save their dissent for the real vote. No point telegraphing the jail break to the prison guards ahead of time.

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1190258233124020224

It's funny, back in 2015, I would have thought that Bill Kristol probably has better insight into the thinking of a Republican politician than I do. But he and the other Never Trump Republicans have been so consistently wrong about other Republicans it's just amazes me that they can even continue to buy their own bullshit.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 9:38 AM
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I think that enjoying telling lies to Kristol is probably universal.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 10:24 AM
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Fuck - four people killed last night in a shooting in Orinda, CA, just a hop away, on the other end of the tunnel.

(Apparently at a big Airbnb that was being rented for a family reunion.)


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 10:58 AM
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3,11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetration


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 11:27 AM
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Also, to be clear: I don't actually care if my kids get these extra opportunities. I'm just mad that they seem to be doled in a sexist way.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 11:30 AM
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You should try to find a school where the racism overpowers the sexism.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 11:54 AM
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I may not have understood the assignment.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 11:57 AM
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I notice a lot of silent Californians.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 12:14 PM
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10: under Medicare psychiatrists and dermatologists do this, but nobody else really.

Baker in MA has proposed requiring insurers and healthcare organizations increase primary care and behavioral health spending by 30% over 3 years while maintaining overall healthcare inflation at 3.5%.

That would mean fewer high tech cancer treatments and possibly lower pay for the most highly remunerated specialists. More pay for GP and psychiatrists. You can't solve the problem completely but I think psychiatrist might be more willing to participate in insurance and Medicare if they were better paid.

Derm is tough because cosmetic is lucrative. I think more psychiatrists would take insurance if the pay were better. Psychologists are also screwed under Medicare. They get paid less to evaluate a mental health problem than an internist.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 12:18 PM
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White men never understand the assignment.


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 12:26 PM
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2: ARRRGH. Let me remind you of Sally's parent teacher conference (when she was in fifth grade I think? Lovely teacher, a woman who thought Sally was terrific, no malice at all), where the teacher told me that "You know, she does excellently with her math work, but she seems bored. Do you think she's hitting that middle-school age where girls stop liking math?"

And I didn't murder her, and instead politely suggested that she might be more engaged if there were something more advanced she could work on. And the teacher took the suggestion and found some enrichment curriculum in a drawer that she and her best friend, also out ahead in math, could sit in the back of the room and work on. But honestly. It's not the malice you have to watch out for, it's the blindingly stupid assumptions about what's normal.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 12:35 PM
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Power hasn't gone out here and there was only a day or two with the smell of smoke in the air. If it weren't in the news I would hardly know it was happening. NPR coverage here tends to "California: now only a 99% perfect place to live?"


Posted by: Mister Smearcase | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 12:41 PM
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I feel like a 1% casualty rate is a bit high for a developed country.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 12:46 PM
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I always thought of New York City as a nicer place to live than California.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 1:00 PM
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Alaska's health care market is so distorted that many doctors of all kinds don't take Medicare because its reimbursement rates are so much lower than what they can get from private insurers. As a result, Medicare as a program is very unpopular here and advocates for Medicare for All go to great lengths to emphasize that the "Medicare" in that proposal (at least in Bernie's version) is not the same as the currently existing program called Medicare. I gather this is very different from the situation in other places.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 1:13 PM
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21 -- Did you read the article about scam AirBNB hosts that's going around? Who could have guessed that dodging regulations makes scams easier. It looks like the family reunion story at the Orinda place was just a ruse, and instead of a party of 12, it was more than 100.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 1:18 PM
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all fine & sf never lost power, and seems like most of the evacuations have been lifted although lots of folks still do not have power. ucb was shut for a few days because of no power while the flat part of the city of berkeley still had power, which is a somewhat hilarious state of affairs if you know about the long time contentious relationship between the to re: infrastructure.


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 1:21 PM
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34. I just sent this heebie but maybe it's too obvious for a post. The details are interesting, as is to me the guy's background, he's bought a building in Chicago and has a github repo with baby steps for analysis of standard Data Science 101 example.

One of the persistent libertarian fantasies is of free markets replacing government functions. That's happening now with commercial disputes, some no longer settled in the courts. Not working out so well.


https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-host-scam-on-airbnb


(Sketchy landlords post stock photos then redirect hapless travelers to dumps, game the low-rent Airbnb system with retaliatory bad reviews and multiple identities to keep going. Looks like the villain here, SG, has recently bought an apartment building in Chicago, yay cheap credit.)

I do not have the link handy, but there are a host of issues with Amazon sellers, from theft of Amazon shopfronts to sale of counterfeit/invalid goods. I'm afraid I don't have links for either of those handy though.



Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 1:36 PM
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I do not have the link handy, but there are a host of issues with Amazon sellers, from theft of Amazon shopfronts to sale of counterfeit/invalid goods. I'm afraid I don't have links for either of those handy though.

There was this article which I sent in as a guest post.


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 1:41 PM
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Ooh, thanks! That's exactly what I was thinking of.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 1:54 PM
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I rolled my eyes when I read Sanders saying he wouldn't say how he would pay for MfA, but now I think it's the right strategy, because any numbers will be spun by the NYT as an outrage.

The Dems should just bullshit and say that MfA will cost nothing, and they will pay for it out of waste, fraud and abuse in the health care sector. Reporters too dumb to understand numbers. You've probably all seen the Saez-Zucman graph showing that the top 400 families pay less taxes than the bottom 10%. I'm pretty sure this graph is bullshit, but no reporter is capable of every figuring that out.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 2:15 PM
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where the teacher told me that "You know, she does excellently with her math work, but she seems bored. Do you think she's hitting that middle-school age where girls stop liking math?"

Oh my god, this is making me hyperventilate.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 2:30 PM
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She's a math major now, at least.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 2:40 PM
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Hopefully it's just a phase before learning SAS.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:07 PM
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39: No, Dems should say the MFA will create 6% growth that will pay for everything. No need to echo idea that government is full of WF&A.


Posted by: yoyo | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:16 PM
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Pros change the world with nothing but Excel.


Posted by: Opinionated 2008 | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:23 PM
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Sacramento folks are feeling pretty good about our publically-owned super progressive utility. Subjectively, in my part of California, it has felt like a mild calm year (only a couple hot spells, not a drought).


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:26 PM
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Just run the math in 17. MfA eliminates private spending, doubles public spending, AND saves $1.5trn/yr in the process. Because private insurance actually is full of WF&A.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:29 PM
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Fucking Trump is running election ads on the TV now. There's an actual election with other candidates next Tuesday and they're running ads too.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:30 PM
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Scamming with real estate always seems like it should be too easy to shut down. At least with airbnb, there is a good chance the victim has to leave town, but with several hundred bucks scammed, it seems like filing a small claims court case would be worth it if you're back in chicago.

This also seems like a situation where non-public reviews would be helpful, so if a host (or tenant) is a bad actor evidence will be accumulated. I'm surprised Airbnb isn't more proactive about this since these scammers are hurting Abnb's reputation. Being overrun with scammers is why I don't buy anything on ebay anymore.


Posted by: yoyo | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:30 PM
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46: But how would the government pay for it? They might RAISE TAXES! Sure, we would all save more than the taxes because health care would be cheaper, but the NYT will be sure let us know that the Dems would RAISE TAXES 500 MILLION PERCENT.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:43 PM
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||

Good, I think. At least clarifying.

|>


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:56 PM
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According to the Boston Globe, her proposal will pay doctors at Medicare rates, and hospitals at 110% of Medicate rates (Sanders' proposal was 115%). Somehow I don't think this is going to go over well with either doctors or hospitals.

It's always a mistake to give actual numbers. (Right up there with "Don't get involved in a land war in Asia.")


Posted by: DaveLMA | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:57 PM
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Being able to scam people is why I only sell on eBay.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 3:57 PM
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How many ballots have the doctors? You need exactly two numbers: how much the median American swing-state voter pays for health insurance, and how much that voter would pay in payroll tax for MfA.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 4:08 PM
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There's value in not going into detail, certainly but I think she perceived it correctly as hurting her somewhat that she kept being compelled to hedge at the direct question "Will this raise taxes?" Sanders was okay with saying yes, it will, but with net savings to non-wealthy; but she wasn't, envisioning attack ads clipping just the "yes, it will" ad nauseam. So this was better than the alternative.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 4:09 PM
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Just as glad that Beto is out. I'm glad to get the field narrowed down.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 4:17 PM
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51 is so much truer than you can possibly know.


Posted by: Opinionated Robert McNamara | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 4:19 PM
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I wouldn't want Beto as president, but I enjoyed having him around taking potshots at Trump and talking about confiscating guns.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 4:42 PM
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56: The middle parts are easier.


Posted by: Opinionated Ghengis Khan | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 5:36 PM
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The rationale for Beto's candidacy never made the least bit of sense to me. It always seemed to be largely the result of a set of Dem political consultants hugely misinterpreting both the 2008 and 2018 elections.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 5:47 PM
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How many ballots have the doctors?

Not many, but what they do have is lot and lots of money (especially if you include the hospitals) with which to campaign against anything they see as threatening their interests.

You need exactly two numbers: how much the median American swing-state voter pays for health insurance, and how much that voter would pay in payroll tax for MfA.

I strongly suspect the median swing-state voter pays nothing out of pocket for health insurance. By the same token, if MfA is funded by a payroll tax they would pay nothing (or even less) for it either, of course. But this is why the politics aren't as much of a slam-dunk as they would seem from looking at the economics of it: Most Americans have health insurance, usually through their employers, and most people who have health insurance are satisfied with it. There isn't a pervasive sense of crisis over this, even though we could definitely be paying way less for the same or better coverage through a more logical system. This is why public option or buy-in schemes poll way better than hardcore MfA when the differences are explained.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 5:56 PM
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Another problem is that Americans like and trust doctors way more than politicians. So if a politicians comes along with this calculation showing how much they'll save with MfA and a doctor comes along and says the politician is lying, most people are going to believe the doctor even if it's actually the doctor who is lying.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 5:59 PM
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Does that mean high blood pressure is really just fine?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 6:08 PM
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He said if I exercised, it would go down, but he was wrong about that so far.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 6:09 PM
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The head of Homeland Security is now "Chad".


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 6:22 PM
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Or, I guess, "Chad" is now the head of Homeland Security. Unless they just renamed the last one.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 6:26 PM
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Most Americans have health insurance, usually through their employers, and most people who have health insurance are satisfied with it.

Fuckers. I lost my health insurance just last week. My BCBS Obamacare dropped me after the credit card they were billing expired, and wouldn't let me back in. I had to get a very dodgy temporary insurance policy in its place, from a company I've never heard of.

The good news is that I saved about 2 grand as a result. As long as nobody gets sick.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 6:38 PM
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My BCBS Obamacare dropped me after the credit card they were billing expired, and wouldn't let me back in. I had to get a very dodgy temporary insurance policy in its place, from a company I've never heard of.

That sucks. I had a similar situation when I was between jobs; I signed up for an Obamacare plan but inadvertently missed paying two months of premiums, and they dropped me just like that. I tried to appeal, but no dice. There's only one provider on the exchanges here, so I didn't even have the option of a temporary policy and just went uninsured until I got another job. Luckily I didn't get sick.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 7:17 PM
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Sickness would have been a problem, or moose attack.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 7:19 PM
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prediction: healthcare will not be meaningfully solved for at least another 10 years


Posted by: Sad, but probably true | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:17 PM
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How ludicrous is the whole "open enrollment" thing where you can only sign up for health care once a year and if you find yourself without care during some other part of the year for reasons they don't approve of, you are fucked.

I was very lucky to be able to find temporary insurance. I had to really hunt for it because you sure can't get it through the exchange. There is only one company in this state allowed to sell short-term polices and the policies they offer are very much not Obamacare compliant.

One thing I will credit the Republicans for is that at least they made it so I won't be paying tax penalties for having shitty insurance, like I would have under the original Obamacare regime.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 8:55 PM
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Kamala Harris just closed down her field office in town.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 10:08 PM
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Specifically, she is "laying off all field organizers in the state."


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 1-19 10:09 PM
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Between that and Beto dropping out, sounds like the field may actually be winnowing for real.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:00 AM
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I keep parsing MfA as MFA, which is more entertaining than reality.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:01 AM
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The rationale for Beto's candidacy never made the least bit of sense to me.

Beto's only real national breakthrough moment was before he was running for president, when he delivered the now-viral answer on the question of athletes kneeling during the national anthem. Which suggests that his next move should be writing for Deadspin.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 5:56 AM
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I thought Harris was going to do better than she has. I think she was my number 2. I don't care for Biden's policies, think Bernie is too old to run for a first term and don't quite trust Buttigieg because of his healthcare positions. He reminds me too much of a management consultant.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 9:45 AM
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I thought Harris was going to do better than she has. I think she was my number 2. I don't care for Biden's policies, think Bernie is too old to run for a first term and don't quite trust Buttigieg because of his healthcare positions. He reminds me too much of a management consultant.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 9:45 AM
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I think his only job before politics was being a management consultant.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:22 AM
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78: I think he was in the military too.

66: Can you get back in in January or whenever open enrollment is?


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:25 AM
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78: I think he was in the military too.

66: Can you get back in in January or whenever open enrollment is?


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:25 AM
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79 and 80 were me.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:25 AM
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The rationale for Beto's candidacy never made the least bit of sense to me.

It makes sense if you believe that Obama silently had his machinery working towards making Beto happen, because Obama saw himself in Beto.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:25 AM
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79: He was in the military AFTER he entered politics. Possibly on the advice of a management consultant.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:28 AM
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It seems unlikely that my parents' neighborhood will burn down again, at least not this soon after it burned two years ago.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:57 AM
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Wishing the best for them.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 11:15 AM
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84: Oh no, how scary. Hope it's okay.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 11:58 AM
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This is insane: https://features.propublica.org/wrong-goodbye/mistaken-identity-end-of-life-decision-family-support-frederick-williams-raheme-perry/


Posted by: J, Robot | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 11:58 AM
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I have lots to say about M4All (I'm currently running workshops with those fabled union members who are champing at the bit to keep giving up wages and retirement benefits to keep ever-crappier health insurance), but first I have a recipe bleg.

I'm co-hosting a dinner party and need to figure out a main dish for a person with these allergies:

Onions
Mushrooms
Cabbage
Wheat 
Corn
Rice
Nuts - ground and tree
Dairy

Other parameters: There will be 12 or so people and we're already planning to make a big baked pasta dish and a green salad. I want a second main dish-type thing that she can eat that can be made in advance (meaning day of, but done in time to sit and enjoy cocktails without running back to the kitchen every 2 minutes).

I need an actual recipe because I'm not a scratch cook (and will be in another city, without M/tch, alas).

So, what would the Mineshaft cook?


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 11:59 AM
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Steak and hash browns.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 12:02 PM
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Something bulgar-based or quinoa-based. This looks good. I found it searching for a recipe I used to make which gets a little better the more it sits around; I'll see if I can find the recipe I was thinking of.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 12:09 PM
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88: I have no good recipe suggestions.

I do want to hear about those workshops. I am pro Union mostly, but I am sometimes frustrated with some of the unions that are male dominated My boss's husband was in a building trades union in the Western part of the state, and he was only allowed in in the Eastern part because someone pulled a favor. My other negative experience was with somebody who was probably in one of those unions. I was gathering signatures for a healthcare referendum. Our proposed referendum would have instituted a payroll tax on employers who didn't provide coverage, expanded MassHealth, and raised MassHealth rates to Medicare rates. This guy said he didn't care because he had great benefits through his union. What kind of success have you had talking to folks like that?


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 12:13 PM
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Man, I should have been keeping a recipe journal. It really sucks when very reliable dishes disappear from the internet or your forget how to find them. I can think of several recipes that I mourn the loss of.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 12:13 PM
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Part of my problem is that I don't know how to spell "bulgur". I still haven't found it, but meanwhile here's another candidate.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 12:24 PM
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How ludicrous is the whole "open enrollment" thing where you can only sign up for health care once a year and if you find yourself without care during some other part of the year for reasons they don't approve of, you are fucked.

Pretty fucking ludicrous.

One thing I will credit the Republicans for is that at least they made it so I won't be paying tax penalties for having shitty insurance, like I would have under the original Obamacare regime.

Although you wouldn't have had to pay it if your period of uninsurance was less than 3 months.

The on-the-ground problem I see with eliminating the penalty is that thousands and thousands of people qualify for huge subsidies and don't know it. Fear of the penalty drove some people to actually look into plans and see that they can get at least a bronze plan and sometimes a silver plan for nothing (literally $0 premiums) or next to nothing with massive discounts on cost-sharing.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 12:40 PM
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I strongly suspect the median swing-state voter pays nothing out of pocket for health insurance.

Why on earth do you think this? If by "out of pocket" you only mean cost-sharing, the median is $1,000. You can see it state-by-state here.

Cost-sharing:

Median annual out-of-pocket spending on medical care ranged from $360 (Hawaii) to $1,500 (Nebraska). In four states, households in the top 10 percent of out-of-pocket expenses spent $7,000 or more on these items.

And why do you think people only care about cost sharing when they have to pay premiums no matter what?

Premiums:

The median, or midpoint, of annual household spending on employer insurance premium contributions ranged from $500 (Hawaii) to $3,400 (South Dakota) in 2016-2017. In 11 states, households in the top 10 percent of spending on premium contributions paid $9,000 or more.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 12:58 PM
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**General PSA that I'm a volunteer Certified(!) Application Counselor for the ACA and happy to answer any questions about filling out the application, comparing plans, enrolling, etc., if I can.**


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:15 PM
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88: For reals, what does this person eat to stay alive?


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:17 PM
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You can have perfectly fine hash browns without butter. Steak without mushrooms is also possible.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:22 PM
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95: Rhetorically, is it not possible to take a median swing-stater's actual paycheck, with $X deductions for SS plus health insurance, and then place right next to it a projected post-MfA paycheck with less-than-$X deductions for SS plus MfA?


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:33 PM
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98: Possible, sure. Like sleeping on a bed of broken glass is possible.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:34 PM
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For reals, what does this person eat to stay alive?

That was my first thought before I realized that she's got all the non-vegetarian options that don't immediately come to mind for me. (My refrigerator doesn't even have a meat drawer.) Still a big hassle, though -- no corn means no corn syrup, which is in everything. I think it's the no nuts and no wheat combo that would be a killer for me.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:54 PM
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But carbohydrates. Beans? Chickpea?


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 1:59 PM
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90: bulgur is a type of wheat, but you could substitute quinoa.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:01 PM
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Is quinoa available at staple prices in the US? I've only ever seen it at health-food markups.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:03 PM
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88: potatoes + spinach/kale = kolcanon.


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:06 PM
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Is that how they spell it in Texas?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:12 PM
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Minus onions, plus boiled potato maybe?

DURBAN INDIAN BRAISED CAULIFLOWER AND CHICKPEAS
Serves 4
The 'colonial-born' Natal Indians developed a harsh but much-loved style of cooking that is based on curry powders rather than pastes. Accordingly, this dish is pleasant enough, but lacks finesse. Then again, it is mighty quick to prepare, and comes with a protein component. If you are hesitant to use so much curry powder, close your eyes and do it anyway. Otherwise the dish will be insipid. Traditional Durban accompaniments are rice, desiccated coconut to sprinkle, chopped banana, chopped tomato, chopped raw onion, jam chutney and atchar.
4 C large florets
1 C chopped onion
3 T sunflower oil
2 T curry powder
2 star anise seeds
1 t salt
2 C cooked chickpeas (tinned and drained is fine)
2 C coarsely chopped tomato, and the juices
TO STIR IN
2 t garum masala
½ C chopped coriander leaf
½ C tinned lentil curry, for added depth (optional)
4-litre pot with snug-fitting lid
1. As the braising process is quick and depends on split-second timing, it is best to line up all the prepped ingredients and utensils before you start.
2. Fry the onions with the curry powder and star anise over moderate heat till the onions are softened, about 4 minutes.
3. Increase the heat to high, add the florets, and stir-fry a scant 2 minutes. They will now be part-cooked, and strongly flavoured.
4. Add the chickpeas and salt. Stir, cover, and cook for 1 minute, still over high heat. The chickpeas will heat through, and release steam, while the florets will continue to cook.
5. Add the chopped tomato, stir, and slam on the lid. Reduce the heat to low. Keep the lid pressed down for 30 seconds, to increase the pressure inside the pot. The moisture in the tomato will also turn into steam and finish the cooking process, and the florets will be al dente within 2 minutes, or so. If it is too runny after 3 minutes, increase the heat and cook uncovered, to evaporate most of the juices.
6. Stir in the garum masala and coriander leaf. Serve with rice.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:16 PM
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102 was my thought also. But they might eat a lot of potatoes.

In fact, a traditional British roast dinner would work fine, as long as you left out the Yorkshire pudding and thickened the gravy with potato flour.

(As an actual suggestion: roast chicken or baked fish with a lentil/tomato/spinach salad?)


Posted by: Ume | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:17 PM
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Rhetorically, is it not possible to take a median swing-stater's actual paycheck, with $X deductions for SS plus health insurance, and then place right next to it a projected post-MfA paycheck with less-than-$X deductions for SS plus MfA?

Yes, but the paycheck doesn't capture the scariest healthcare costs, especially deductibles and balance billing. And it doesn't begin to capture the value of IM4A (Improved Medicare for All -- damn, do we need re-branding) and I think plenty of people won't believe that what they save in premiums is worth what they think they're going to get, namely lousy insurance and/or grim Soviet-style clinics. The real difficulty is in convincing people that they're going to have really, really good insurance. It just sounds too good to be true if the for-profit insurance model is the only one you know.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:20 PM
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90, 93, 107, 108: Thanks! I'll look into those.

This kind of instruction is exactly what I need: If you are hesitant to use so much curry powder, close your eyes and do it anyway.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:24 PM
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Although you wouldn't have had to pay it if your period of uninsurance was less than 3 months.

When they cut me off they made it retroactive to September 1, so between then, and getting back on the roles January 1 is 3 months exactly.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:36 PM
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Or even four months, if you are the type to do the math.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:37 PM
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Fucking fly some Pennsylvanians to Canada for a week.
The thought of cuisine without onions is literally making me sad.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:38 PM
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There isn't a pervasive sense of crisis over this

Nearly three-quarters of employed Americans (73%) say the healthcare system is "in a state of crisis" or "has major problems" in Gallup's most recent survey. There is little difference between American workers' attitudes on the healthcare system and the overall U.S. public, among which 71% say the system is "in a state of crisis" or "has major problems."

(Gallup Feb. 2018)


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:49 PM
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111: That sucks.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:49 PM
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113: They'll just drink Molson for a week and come home.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 2:58 PM
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I don't know what Molson is but I'm sure if they drink enough of it they'll have to avail themselves of socialized healthcare.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:01 PM
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I can't really remember if it's Molson or Labatt's that I don't like. Makes it hard to visit Canada.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:03 PM
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Haven't you heard? Canadians are streaming into the U.S. to avoid dying in wait lines.

(I have my issues with Michael Moore's Sicko, but I absoutely love the part when his Canadian relatives refuse to cross the border for a day without visitors health insurance.)


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:06 PM
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Voldemort+nose is threatening to release the Kraken. I can't see why this didn't do better at the box office.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:08 PM
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BECAUSE IT MIXED ITS MYTHOLOGIES


Posted by: OPINIONATED JRR TOLKIEN | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:14 PM
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The clock-work owl.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:16 PM
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WTF. HEPHAISTOS KEEP YOUR NERD SHIT AWAY FROM MY BIRD OR I'LL KICK YOUR LAME ASS STRAIGHT INTO YOUR OWN LAVA


Posted by: OPINIONATED ATHENA | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:22 PM
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The writing on this really sucks.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:23 PM
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Also, why couldn't they have just used Harry Hamlin again?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:25 PM
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MELPOMENE. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU ONLY HAVE LIKE 6 GREEK PLAYS OUT 37 THOUSAND


Posted by: OPINIONATED ATHENA | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:28 PM
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BECAUSE THE OTHER 31 THOUSAND SUCK GOAT BALLS. THAT'S WHY.


Posted by: OPINIONATED ATHENA | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:29 PM
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They got the owl and the giant scorpion.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:30 PM
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Mossy @104, quinoa is pricier than rice but not very expensive. $6/pound or so.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:38 PM
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How much a pound for a scorpion you can ride?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:42 PM
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The set designer watched a lot of Flintstones as a kid.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:43 PM
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They still do the witches with only one eye.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:44 PM
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88: This recipe is incredibly flexible, forgiving, vegetarian, and delicious. I usually forget multiple ingredients and it still works out. You can omit the onions and pistachios (might want to try to find something else a bit crunchy?) and use a non-wheat grain. I bet millet or quinoa would work.

https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/roasted-caulifower-and-grain-salad-with-pomegranate/


Posted by: ydnew | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:47 PM
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Or this using soy/nondairy yogurt:

https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/09/crisped-chickpeas-with-herbs-and-garlic-yogurt/

(The components tasted iffy on their own, and I almost lost my nerve, but it all tasted good together.)

But yeah, I'll say that really restrictive diets lead one to meat-and-potatoes combinations pretty fast.


Posted by: ydnew | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:52 PM
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I think Perseus is and Io should just get over themselves and kiss already.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:57 PM
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And 107 looks really good. I like "slam the lid on" as an instruction. Serve with bananas? Like, to eat at the same time, or put bananas on top to taste with the tomatoes and onions?


Posted by: ydnew | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 3:57 PM
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Either way sounds pretty awful.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 4:06 PM
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137 to the ending of the movie. That made no sense at all.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 4:24 PM
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Serve with bananas?

You can make a spoon out of a stale banana. Works best if you freeze it.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 4:25 PM
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120:. The trailer for that movie was roughly 1000x better than the movie itself. Seriously, go watch the trailer again, it's amazing.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 4:43 PM
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120:. The trailer for that movie was roughly 1000x better than the movie itself. Seriously, go watch the trailer again, it's amazing.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 4:43 PM
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This recipe is incredibly flexible, forgiving, vegetarian, and delicious

My favorite kind! Thanks.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 4:44 PM
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134 looks very interesting to try. I didn't know crispy chickpeas were a thing.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 4:47 PM
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Mushy peas is a thing, apparently.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 6:30 PM
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"Refried mushy peas" sounds like something that could happen.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 6:33 PM
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If you can't have onion, wheat, corn, rice, or dairy, what do you eat at Chipotle?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 6:41 PM
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Ask and report back please.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 6:51 PM
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Maybe the "salad" and have lettuce, tomato, and meat.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 7:44 PM
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Maybe the "salad" and have lettuce, tomato, and meat.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 7:44 PM
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Do they have tomatoes that aren't part of a salsa with onions or something?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 7:56 PM
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150: Not sure. This may require a field trip.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 8:25 PM
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My son just orders his with guacamole, like I'm made of money. I would complain except that it means he's getting more vegetables.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 8:31 PM
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Three days to go till the election. Things are looking good except the postcards I ordered to be sent out to the 1000 likeliest voters in the ward have not been delivered yet. If it doesn't show up on Monday, I'm out $485 and look stupid when they show up after everyone has already voted.

But even if that happens, I still like my chances Tuesday. My opponent has turned out to be a bit of a lightweight in terms of having absolutely no platform, or any ideas at all, really. And so I've been able to shift my strategy back towards the left after the primary, and there is some evidence I've been able to encroach on her base.

She still has her strengths - strongholds at the old folks homes, I think, and support from an influential sitting counselor. Her yard-sign game is strong, and she did have 50 more votes than me in the primary.

But I get the feeling I've been out-producing her. I've done much better than her in several opportunities for newspaper coverage, I've got a sweet campaign video that I know has made an impression with some local influencers, and, as a result of sitting down and talking at length with some of the older people in the neighborhood I've had some nice things said about me in the neighborhood Facebook group.

I've also been running targeted Facebook ads that seem like they are being pretty effective. She's got nothing like that.

Then again, the best candidate doesn't always win and there is no way to really know anything until Tuesday.

I never did get the donations thing straightened out. Once it got to the point where I was having to call up the IRS I just decided it was taking up too much of my bandwidth. Its alright. I've spent less than $1000 in total, which isn't nothing, but I can absorb it.


Posted by: Franklin Pierce | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 9:18 PM
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Why on earth do you think this? If by "out of pocket" you only mean cost-sharing, the median is $1,000.

I specifically meant premiums and not cost-sharing (i.e., payments for health insurance rather than payments for health care). They're not "out of pocket" in the sense that they're deducted from paychecks. I strongly suspect most middle-class white people (which a "swing-state median voter" is likely to be) have never written a check to an insurance company to pay a premium.

(I don't think Mossy's wrong, btw, that this could be a good messaging approach, and it actually seems to be pretty close to what Warren is trying to do with her new plan. It's just that the politics of it is a lot more complicated in practice, as I'm sure you well know, than a high-level look at the aggregate numbers would suggest.)


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:06 PM
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It makes sense if you believe that Obama silently had his machinery working towards making Beto happen, because Obama saw himself in Beto.

If this is true I think it would make Obama one of the deluded operatives misunderstanding 2008 and 2018, but I really doubt it is. If Obama really wanted to put his thumb on the scale for one particular candidate by far the most effective way would have been an official, public endorsement, which he has consistently and quite pointedly refused to make for anyone.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 2-19 10:23 PM
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Good luck FP!


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 3:33 AM
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156 was me


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 3:34 AM
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If this is true I think it would make Obama one of the deluded operatives misunderstanding 2008 and 2018, but I really doubt it is.

Counterpoint: His entire presidency was marked by centrist delusions.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 6:52 AM
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Counter^2Point: He had a GOP Congress after the first two years. It was either that or admit he wasn't getting anything done.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 6:58 AM
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Obama really wanted to put his thumb on the scale for one particular candidate by far the most effective way would have been an official, public endorsement, which he has consistently and quite pointedly refused to make for anyone.

Because it would have been profoundly insulting to Biden.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 7:00 AM
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153: Good luck! Eager to hear how this goes!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 7:02 AM
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Yes, have fun storming the castle.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 7:13 AM
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plenty of people won't believe that what they save in premiums is worth what they think they're going to get, namely lousy insurance and/or grim Soviet-style clinics

In their defense, Medicare is very lousy insurance.


Posted by: E. Messily | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 12:21 PM
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OT?: I think this piece says what I've been thinking, but more clearly.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 3:14 PM
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Well, yes. But we all knew that already, right. Long before Trump.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 4:42 PM
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154:

Huh? Do you mean people aren't sensitive to the fact that a few hundred dollars (typically) is deleted from their paychecks every month, just because they don't physically write the check?


Posted by: Ponder Stibbons | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 6:40 PM
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It's not just that it deducted from the paycheck, it's that the employer pays a portion of it (or all of it if you are in my current job) and you don't really ever see that except if you go look for it.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 7:05 PM
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I've only had one employer pay all of it, and that employer made a point of boasting that they had one of the best medical benefits in the country (and even for that employer, including spouse/children was $$$---they only paid all of it for the employee). Other places it's always been >$100/month just for the employee, not including family. That's why I'm side-eyeing the idea that most middle class americans are insensitive to the price of premiums.


Posted by: Ponder Stibbons | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 7:59 PM
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Every year when open enrollment occurs, I'm reminded of how much more/less I could be paying in terms of premiums. I thought this was a normal middle-class experience, but maybe I'm wrong.


Posted by: Ponder Stibbons | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 8:01 PM
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Maybe there's a reason all my co-workers have been with the same company for like a decade.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 8:07 PM
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Oh yeah, one other thing that it is clear to me from closely watching this local election is that there is a wave of Millennial politicians on the way and when it crashes its going to crash big, smashing establishment Boomers into dust.

If you are Gen X and think you might ever run, run as soon as you can before that wave hits because once it does you will be considered old and out of touch.


Posted by: Franklin Pierce | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 8:39 PM
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Also, Millennial Republicans are going to co-opt the word "progressive" on behalf of the forces of capital.


Posted by: Franklin Pierce | Link to this comment | 11- 3-19 9:52 PM
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Every year when open enrollment occurs, I'm reminded of how much more/less I could be paying in terms of premiums. I thought this was a normal middle-class experience, but maybe I'm wrong.

Whereas I just get totally confused by the complexity and try to pick the option that seems to meet my needs best, then immediately forget all the details of it until the next year's open enrollment. It's quite possible that your experience is more typical than mine, but I'm inclined to err on the side of Americans being generally lazy and uninformed.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 1:01 AM
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Counterpoint: His entire presidency was marked by centrist delusions.

I mean, it would certainly have been on-brand for Obama to have done this, up to and including the fact that it failed spectacularly.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 1:03 AM
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159 is one of the central facts of the past decade, and it just gets forgotten. We could elect Sanders and a big wave of progressives next year, and yet all progress will end in 2022 when the Republicans take back control of Congress. Which they will, because human nature has not changed.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 1:10 AM
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175: Which why you need to win a trifecta in 2020, the very first acts of which must be to rig the whole system against Republicans. (Or just in favor of actual majoritarianism. Whatever works best for 2022-24.) Compulsory voting, ungerrymandered districts, equal-airtime laws, pack the SC, prosecute every Republican officeholder who possibly can be. Whatever. Do all at once what the Republicans have been doing by inches for decades.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 2:11 AM
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President Pierce, please understand I mean it as a compliment when I say you sound like a 1990s sitcom doing an episode with a political campaign. Best of luck.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 2:14 AM
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Medicare has open choice of doctors. You do need Medigap to make it work.

My employer makes a point of telling us how much money they actually end up spending. You're getting $300/wk in medical participation credits. The 1st year I worked there for two people for the more generous plan it was $90/wk out of my paycheck. After 1 year that got cut in half. But they are trying to get us to cover 20 percent, so every year in addition to the rising cost of care, our share goes up. Now, the after 1 year of service price is $78.We are switching to Tim's which is like $62/wk (phrma has good benefits.Other companies within his conglomerate pay more.) I get $78 a week for opting out and having insurance through a spouse, so $62 vs $156 is way cheaper. Tim has more out of pocket costs with coinsurance, but the max out of pocket with premiums is less than my premium by at least $1,000.

And the accounting is funny, because my hospital had structured
The insurance to incentivize you to go to their hospitals and doctors, I.e. the company store.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 3:36 AM
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171.2 makes me feel better about doing nothing.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 6:05 AM
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Welcome to your future!


Posted by: Pete Buttigieg | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 8:32 AM
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Whereas I just get totally confused by the complexity and try to pick the option that seems to meet my needs best, then immediately forget all the details of it until the next year's open enrollment. It's quite possible that your experience is more typical than mine, but I'm inclined to err on the side of Americans being generally lazy and uninformed.

We all live in our bubbles, but yours is a weird one. Maybe it's because you're young and single, so your insurance is cheaper and your paycheck isn't supporting a family, but I don't know many people who aren't painfully aware that they're paying premiums, whether or not they remember how much is deducted from their checks, and that premiums keep going up. But cost sharing is the much bigger deal and what people are tortured and terrified by. Two more Gallup stats:

West Health-Gallup, April 2019


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 8:48 AM
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I dunno, Kraabie. I think what Teo's saying is consistent with what you're saying. I know I pay through the nose for healthcare and have no idea what the details are, aside from when I actually wade into things during open enrollment.

A big part of this is not getting a physical paystub anymore - I have to log in and navigate the HR webpage to see my paystubs.


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 10:59 AM
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That's true. It's also why I didn't realize nobody was withholding my city income tax until it was way late.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 11:01 AM
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Cities can have income taxes? (What's next, an alligator with sunglasses?)


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 11:07 AM
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It's actually a wage tax, so the elderly don't pay on pensions, SS, or investment income.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 11:09 AM
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Anyway, it's 3 percent.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 11:10 AM
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Are there income brackets?


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 11:18 AM
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No. There aren't for state income taxes either.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 11:25 AM
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I dunno, Kraabie. I think what Teo's saying is consistent with what you're saying. I know I pay through the nose for healthcare and have no idea what the details are, aside from when I actually wade into things during open enrollment.

Yeah, I think I'm actually making a pretty narrow point about political messaging and awareness of specifics. I definitely know that I'm paying premiums, and paying a lot for them, but if Mossy Character (or Elizabeth Warren, or Bernie Sanders) comes along with the two average numbers in 53 I would have no idea if this particular Medicare for All plan would be a good deal for me personally or not. (This is why Warren's idea of an employer contribution based directly on current expenses but slightly lower across the board is good messaging even if it wouldn't really work in practice.)


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 12:11 PM
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189: In theory, would it not be possible for the IRS to calculate the answer to that question for any person, using information it already has?


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 2:32 PM
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There's also the "Code DD" line on the W-2, which supposedly tells you how much your employer spent on health insurance for you, but that's a pretty easy number to be unaware of. Though I have to imagine that people see a tens-of-thousands-of-dollars number and spend some time in April worried because they can't figure out what to do with it.


Posted by: Nathan Williams | Link to this comment | 11- 4-19 3:22 PM
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