This program has provided a safety net for people (my friends and neighbors and fellow tax-payers) who have lost their jobs and cannot afford to pay $$ premiums for private health care.  And in the end, we all end up paying the medical bills of the uninsured.  No one should go bankrupt (or without care!) for lack of funds.

What disturbs me is that the Federal Government failed to support and enact the CLASS legislation, which would have made Long-Term Care Insurance  affordable (and OPTIONAL) for those people who fear losing all of their life savings to a Nursing Home.  Elder law attorneys, such as the Denise Kent Law Firm, work to help people avoid nursing home poverty, and those firms exist because our government has failed us.

Since I live in the “Republic of Massachusetts” I just happen to know a few things about our Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act (St. 2006, c. 58, as amended.) The Act requires most (read that as “all”) adults 18 and over with access to affordable health insurance to obtain it. In 2012, individuals must be enrolled in health insurance policies that meet minimum creditable coverage standards defined in regulations adopted by the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority. Individuals who are deemed able to afford health insurance but fail to comply are subject to penalties for each month of non-compliance. Failure to comply with this will subject you to penalties. Penalties via the IRS, TIR 12-2: Individual Mandate Penalties for Tax Year 2012, no less.

Wow. Let’s think about this a little. I’m broke. I go to the Emergency room.  I’m already on the back burner because they know I’m poor. By law I have to get “some reasonable care” from the hospital, but then the IRS may (uh, will) possibly fine me anywhere between $228.00-$1,260.00 depending on my income. See the link above for the penalty rates.

Ok, maybe there is a way to get affordable healthcare according to the Commonwealth Connector Authority? Hmm. If you go read the Healthcare Reform Act, the term “affordable health care” is not defined, nor is there a list of providers for me to choose from. There is however a nice list of what procedures cost and how the poor are crushing the State’s budget using, I guess (I’m not poor), the Mass Health Safety Net insurance program. But it would appear from the wording of the bill, that that doesn’t count and you could pretty easily slide into default under the IRS efforts to get you. Ahh, another clever ploy by our legislature, the IRS and I’ll bet my tax dollars some big insurance companies.

Mitt Romney wants to use this as a model for the United States?? Wow.
Oh, I was going to link to Mitt’s site (mittromney.com) but his server presented an invalid security certificate, so I got even more scared to go see what he had to say!

Sigh.

Chase Bank has snail mailed me the first “opt-in” letter I’ve ever seen. Now, you see this all the time on the web, but in a snail mail letter?!
Chase lists all their services with these little ovals to be filled in by me and mailed back that essentially looks like it says, mail me info on these Chase services (e.g. Credit cards, Financial info etc..) At first glance I thought it was the normal “I’m interested in XYZ send more info.” The funny part is the ovals to be filled in are actually the ones you DO NOT want to receive mail about. It then goes on to say “If you do not respond, you may begin to receive offers in the mail about these products and services.” (meaning all of them) and that by “Responding to this letter will ensure that the mailing options you select will remain in effect for five years…” It continues on to tell me I can mail it back or go on line and set this  up.

Wow, what a new ‘Green’ (less mail?) deal Chase has mailed me. If it was re-worded a little more honestly, and they actually seemed to mean it, it might cut down on snail mail going right into the trash. But alas, just a clever way to clean their database or trolling for new credit card customers. It was a fun (sad really) read by from credit card services. The mail was  ’signed’ by “Deb Walden Executive Vice President Cardmember Experience.” (underline is mine.)

Guess I’ll wait it out and see what soon-to-be-in-trash Chase mail I get.
Scan of actual letter is here. 

Why, you might ask? This is one of the things that really pisses me off.
I was looking for a video converter and, sure enough, I found Xilisoft’s X Video Converter. So I downloaded their trial copy (you get: x-video-converter-ultimate.exe) and installed it. It installed via InstallerWise professionally. But when I went to use it, it attempted to punch a hole in my firewall (stopped that one) to phone home for some reason. Then, when it didn’t do what I wanted I attempted to uninstall it from Add/Remove Programs. The beginning of the end.

Xilisoft’s uninstaller, apparently anyway, only brings up a web page begging me to continue, enter personal information etc. WTF?!  I had to manually delete it from my programs menu and then hunt down its DLLs.

What is that? WTF? I’ll never go to xilisoft.com for anything again. I hope you do not have these problems either

An article at IGN quotes a different point of view from Gabe Newell, CEO of Valve: “In general, we think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. For example, if a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the U.S. release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate’s service is more valuable. Most DRM solutions diminish the value of the product by either directly restricting a customers use or by creating uncertainty.”
The quote was taken from an interview at The Cambridge Student Online.

Gabe seems to be saying that actually serving your customers is in the best interest of the shareholders of the company. Who would of thought….

“Ubisoft is known for laying the blame for many problems on the unauthorized downloading of its games. Stanislas Mettra, creative director of the upcoming game I Am Alive, confirms this once again by saying thatthe decision not to release a PC version is a direct result of widespread game piracy“

The rest of the slashdot story…

I think NetFlix has learned business 101, keep your current customers (think revenue stream)  happy. They screwed that up and now….

Netflix warned in its last earnings report that it expects to be unprofitable ‘for a few quarters’ starting at the beginning of 2012. The primary culprit is Netflix’s pricey plan to expand its streaming video service into the United Kingdom and Ireland, but a wave of subscribers jumping ship hasn’t helped. 

Amazing Things NASA’s Huge Mars Rover Can Do

NASA is getting set to launch its next Mars rover this week. The car-size Curiosity rover is the centerpiece of NASA’s $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, slated to blast off Saturday (Nov. 26) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rover will employ 10 different science instruments to help it answer questions once it touches down on the Red Planet in August 2012.

I want to drive it!!!

Separating Fact from Hype on Mobile Malware

As 2012 dawns, security vendors have set their eyes on the rise of Android malware during the year and what is ahead. Last week, Juniper Networks entered the fray, declaring the number of malware samples it observed targeting devices running Google Android had shot up nearly 500 percent since July. Today, McAfee (a virus by most standards, including mine) released its threats report for the third quarter of the year, which found that the amount of malware targeting Android devices jumped 37 percent since the second quarter.

See the Security Week article here and decide for yourself…

Boeing unveiled its hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye unmanned drone

Boeing unveiled its hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye unmanned airborne system during a ceremony in St. Louis on July 12. The demonstrator, which will stay aloft at 65,000 feet for up to four days, is powered by two Ford 2-liter, four-cylinder reciprocating engines that provide 150 horsepower each. It has a 150-foot wingspan, will cruise at approximately 150 knots and can carry up to a 450-pound payload. This project was not funded by the government, the research was funded by Boeing.

Eventually, they’re going to build one that only has to come down for an engine overhaul.

I want one!
Watch the video in the Boeing press release here….