Shaw's Eco-Logic

A wonderful riff on "Monster Mash," a 1962 classic from Bobby "Boris" Pickett. Just in time for Halloween.

 

This HND piece is an introduction to the reasons behind the quite lamentable decline of Science. Now totally driven by a search for funding, rather than a search for truth, the distinction between junk science and mainstream science is diminishing every single day.

We also cover the emergence of so-called modeling, which is replacing classic empirical science. Why perform experiments when you can just fudge the results?

Read the complete article.

If I were a masochist, I would detail here all the insider corruption involved with the Obamacare rollout. To preserve my sanity, I offer only a taste...

CGI, the largest contractor, has ties to Michelle Obama, and that must make up for their often abysmal performance in other jobs. Due diligence, what's that?

The company now charged with fixing the unholy mess that is healthcare.gov—QSSI—was already part of the project, and by most accounts has done a good job. Nonetheless, the fact that it was purchased by United Health Group in September 2012, months after it was picked by the Department of Health and Human Services to help set up the Affordable Care Act Web site, does strike one as being a massive conflict of interest.

But, give QSSI its due. Here's the problem: To fix this shambles will require almost supernatural cooperation among the vendors, to say nothing of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which formerly was acting as its own systems integrator. BTW--no one seemed to care that financial disclosure forms for the current head of CMS, Marilyn Tavenner, showed that she is getting a $163,000 annual pension for life from her former company, Hospital Corp. of America, a firm whose profits have gone through the roof under Obamacare.

Back to that supernatural cooperation. CMS, still at the very center of any fix, is no longer the systems integrator, and former top dog CGI will now be taking orders from a smaller vendor. In other words, it's all the same people, now acting in completely different roles. What could possibly go wrong?

Right here.

More goodies at the main site.

Sure, you can view plans on the Obamacare site, but the information is so generic, that you really won't be able to discover the truth until you fully sign up.  And, that process is still bogged down, to say the least. Consider that in many cases, PPOs seem to be cheaper than HMOs, which, of course, is absurd. (Unless the list of preferred providers is tiny.)

There is absolutely no doubt that they are making it as difficult as possible for you to determine how much a policy would cost you,

Remember how it is "racist" to ask people for ID when they register to vote?  Then, please tell me why it is NOT racist to ask them for a whole lot more than ID when they try to sign up for Obamacare.

Indeed, up until very recently, they had to put forth all sorts of personal info before they could even see what plans were available.

The Obama administration Sunday (Oct 20) said it’s called on “the best and brightest” tech experts from both government and the private sector to help fix the troubled website at the root of the Obamacare enrollment problems.  So the story goes...

Thereby raising the question "Who was working on it up until now?"  After all, it's only the biggest federal program of all time.  Why should we have had the best and brightest working on it?  Because those guys didn't pay the biggest bribes?

 

So blares the revised headline from the Washington Times. When this story ran in the print edition, it was the headline story entitled "Was SEAL Team 6 crash an inside Job?" The sub-head screamed "Families demand answers from the worst day of war in Afghanistan."

Excerpt:

Sith Douangdara, whose 26-year-old son, John, was a Navy expeditionary specialist who handled warrior dog Bart, said he has lots of unanswered questions.

"I want to know why so many U.S. servicemen, especially SEALs, were assembled on one aircraft," he said. "I want to know why the black box of the helicopter has not been found. I want to know many things."

Not all families believe the fact-finding investigation, conducted by Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Colt covered all issues. Gen. Colt, who has since been promoted to major general, told commanders that his job was not to find fault and his report did not criticize any person or decision.

"Somebody was leaking to the Taliban," said [Charlie] Strange, whose son intercepted communications as a Navy cryptologist. "They knew. Somebody tipped them off. There were guys in a tower. Guys on the bush line. They were sitting there, waiting. And they sent our guys right into the middle."

The big question, of course, is will they get answers? The families involved probably have deep ties to the military, and—I say this with all possible sincerity—likely started off as true believers. But, really now, what do they expect?

 

What do they expect in an era when an official "taking responsibility" actually means that they are NOT taking responsibility? Do they expect a scene out of Perry Mason, in which the perp breaks down and confesses?

And, what about General Colt? Can you imagine Douglas MacArthur or George Patton toadying to anyone the way all of our military leadership now does? Just one more example of why the Nuremberg Trials were a crock: YOU must use discretion in following orders, but for our side...not so much.

I don't agree with everything Bill Sardi has to say, but most of this piece is spot on. I link to it because he dislikes people re-posting his stuff on their own blogs, even if proper attribution is given.

Kinda old school, but there you go.

It's no secret that the so-called "enrollment tool" of healthcare.gov is an unmitigated disaster. This HND piece discloses the longtime problems the Feds have had with IT, and how this particular mess won't be fixed quite as quickly as they would like you to believe.

Even reliably liberal media outlets are roundly condemning this fiasco. Well, like Nancy Pelosi said, we would have to pass Obamacare to see what's in it. And the public is finally starting to see.

Read the complete article.