Wednesday, April 30, 2014
State-Sponsored Horror in Oklahoma - NYTimes.com
I hope the rest of us - outside Oklahoma - are so much better than the people, apparently, inside. I wonder.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
In Victory for Obama, Court Backs Rules for Coal Pollution - NYTimes.com
My response is "good, now keep going!".
Kerry Expresses Regret After Apartheid Remark - NYTimes.com
I certainly would not apologize and I would drop the U.S. commitment to preserve a religious state in the form of Israel. We support democracy first, and if the choice is religious rule, then everyone must be treated as equals. Nothing about Israel makes me believe that they share this view.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Getting Into the Ivies - NYTimes.com
As a Brown alumni interviewer, this understates the challenge for student applicants.
‘Smart’ Firearm Draws Wrath of the Gun Lobby - NYTimes.com
Where is common sense? We have too many guns! Any move to restrict access to the trigger is a real plus in my book.
Why the Democrats’ Turnout Problem Is Worst in North Carolina - NYTimes.com
We should be focusing publicly on getting a 100% turnout at the polls in November for everyone under 35 in North Carolina. You don't get many votes in life to determine your future; the only important one you get this year is in Nov. Use it!!!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Finding stuff online
Last night, I spent a couple of hours researching a fine point on Flexible Spending Accounts, that provision of the IRS Code that allows some of us to put aside some untaxed money to pay for medical expenses. It's a great crap shoot in that you really have to predict the unpredictable - your health - in order to get it right. That's another story.
What struck me in my search for the facts was how much the web forest has overgrown the truth. In my case, I was looking for reasonably reliable information on a proposed IRS rule and on the management of FSA plans by employers. I never did find the latter, although I may have found a couple of places that - with proper payment - might have let me look at what they offer, but I am not their target; employers are.
For the former, the proposed IRS rule, I wound up being bounced by the IRS to Cornell and could not track down what happened to a proposed 2007 regulation. While I am a lawyer, I do not consider myself to be a tax lawyer and have not researched in that arena for a long time. Finally, it popped up almost inadvertently.
In the end, it would have been more fun to go to a well-equipped local library and look it up there in some real books.
What struck me in my search for the facts was how much the web forest has overgrown the truth. In my case, I was looking for reasonably reliable information on a proposed IRS rule and on the management of FSA plans by employers. I never did find the latter, although I may have found a couple of places that - with proper payment - might have let me look at what they offer, but I am not their target; employers are.
For the former, the proposed IRS rule, I wound up being bounced by the IRS to Cornell and could not track down what happened to a proposed 2007 regulation. While I am a lawyer, I do not consider myself to be a tax lawyer and have not researched in that arena for a long time. Finally, it popped up almost inadvertently.
In the end, it would have been more fun to go to a well-equipped local library and look it up there in some real books.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Elections
Are we too the point where the election is about ideas and selecting the least-damaged people?
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
When Parents Are The Ones Too Distracted By Devices : All Tech Considered : NPR
Great story of idiocy.
Amid Politics, Obama Drifted Away From Kin - NYTimes.com
I don't fully understand this, but it is the President's business, not mine.
Android Central - Google+ - Google Street View kicked things up a bit today, now adding…
Really fascinating to think about "history" beginning in 2007!
Monday, April 21, 2014
Running Out of Time - NYTimes.com
I don't think government is the answer. Each of us needs to wage and win this war.
50 Years Into the War on Poverty, Hardship Hits Back - NYTimes.com
What are the education and advancement opportunities that might flow through the two satellite dishes on the roof of this house? Are we focused enough on this?
Saturday, April 19, 2014
‘The Tyranny of Experts,’ by William Easterly - NYTimes.com
This seems like it may be a very important book.
Heartbleed Highlights a Contradiction in the Web - NYTimes.com
This may prove to be major turning point in the history of the internet.
How to Run on Health Reform - NYTimes.com
With all of the money pouring into NC for November's Senate race between incumbent Kay HAGAN and likely Republican opponent, Thom TILLIS, I increasingly think we need to find a way to take a lot of ill-informed rhetoric and set it both straight and personal. If I can find the time, I want to take an issue like the health care law, for which Sen. HAGAN voted and which Mr. TILLIS opposes, and look at it from a North Carolina perspective. I hope to outline what a vote for either candidate might mean, as specifically and personally relevant as one can make it. My thought is to do this in an interactive fashion so that it would be fun for someone to work her/his way through it. Here is an example:
"A vote for Sen. HAGAN likely would mean that she would vote for the federal health care law would to continue as is, subject to some fine-tuning. This would mean that X people in North Carolina would have access to insurance that they likely otherwise would not. If you are one of them, you are a direct beneficiary. If you are not, you are an indirect beneficiary. A vote for Mr. TILLIS would mean a new vote in the Senate to repeal or more dramatically reduce the health care program. If you are directly affected by the law, you might find that any insurance available to you would come only from independent insurance companies, perhaps with less requirements as to coverage than are now a part of the federal program.
On this issue, would this mean that you are more likely to vote for
0 - HAGAN
0 - TILLIS"
The interactive feature would allow respondents to indicate the importance of the issue to them using a 0-10 scale.The totals for each candidate would then provide the voter with a better guide on this critical choice - taking into account their personal preferences and the importance of those preferences to the individual.
"A vote for Sen. HAGAN likely would mean that she would vote for the federal health care law would to continue as is, subject to some fine-tuning. This would mean that X people in North Carolina would have access to insurance that they likely otherwise would not. If you are one of them, you are a direct beneficiary. If you are not, you are an indirect beneficiary. A vote for Mr. TILLIS would mean a new vote in the Senate to repeal or more dramatically reduce the health care program. If you are directly affected by the law, you might find that any insurance available to you would come only from independent insurance companies, perhaps with less requirements as to coverage than are now a part of the federal program.
On this issue, would this mean that you are more likely to vote for
0 - HAGAN
0 - TILLIS"
The interactive feature would allow respondents to indicate the importance of the issue to them using a 0-10 scale.The totals for each candidate would then provide the voter with a better guide on this critical choice - taking into account their personal preferences and the importance of those preferences to the individual.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Fifty Years After the New York World’s Fair, Recalling a Vision of the Future - NYTimes.com
I remember most my parents, especially my father, remembering how much better the 1939 fair had been. He bought 50 tickets for us, and I think we used less than 10.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Michael Bloomberg plans $50M gun effort - Lucy McCalmont - POLITICO.com
It takes a village and we don't have one on this issue, alas. Money won't do it, nor will national pressure.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
The New Age: Leaving Behind Everything, Or Nothing At All : All Tech Considered : NPR
I can sure identify with this!
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Rounding Up Suspects, Pakistan Charges a Baby - NYTimes.com
This story squarely insults the soul; what kind of barbarians wind up arresting a less than one year old baby?
The Case of Who v. Whom - NYTimes.com
Whoever came up with this for whomever is doing a great service!
Saturday, April 05, 2014
Friday, April 04, 2014
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
U.S. and Israel Said to Be Near Agreement on Release of Spy - NYTimes.com
The President and the Secretary of State will lose a lot of the remaining esteem I have for them if they go forward with this. POLLARD will become a hero in Israel, even moreso than he is today, but more important, we will have traded justice for nothing.
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