Wal Mart Innovates Health Care

Courtest of Reason:

Wal-Mart, long criticized for its health care coverage, unveiled a broad plan yesterday that is intended to cut employee costs, expand coverage and offer workers thousands of cheap prescription drugs.

Starting Jan. 1, Wal-Mart's insurance will look a lot like that offered by many other American companies, but with some twists that even longtime critics described as innovative. Independent experts praised several features of the plan and said it could represent a turning point for the retailer, the nation's largest private employer.

...

Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health and a former benefits consultant, called it "a very good plan," saying that "parts of it, like the $4 generics, are game-changing for the industry."

...

The new program, for which workers can sign up starting this month, offers 50 ways to customize coverage, with varying trade-offs like higher premiums and lower deductibles.

In one plan, for example, an employee would pay premiums up to $79 a month, receive a health care credit of $100 and pay a deductible of $500. In another, the employee would pay premiums of $8 a month, receive a $100 health care credit, but pay a deductible of $2,000. Though many generic drugs will be available for $4, brand-name drugs will cost $30 to $50.

If the proverbial alien arrived from Mars to assess our system of health care, he would be shocked to learn that it so intricately and deeply involves our employers. This artifact needs to be ended.

Getting Tasered

Glenn links to a video of Popular Mechanics Associate Editor Erik Sofge getting tasered. It doesn't look like all that much fun.

But for better or for worse, Sofge looks like he could be a stand in for Tom Green, if Green ever gets work again:

Will Congress Force Itself to Tackle Entitlements

Read it at the Standard.

Murtha's Dedicated Supporters

Read it at the Standard.

A Little Something for the Yankees Fans

Regular readers of this blog are aware that I am a Yankees fan, although I try not to indulge myself about baseball excessively. Nevertheless, occasionally my nature as a fan comes through.

After the way the Red Sox blew their lead last night, I had to check the Boston papers to see the reaction of Red Sox nation. This piece from the Herald is enough to warm the heart of the Big Stein:

The Red Sox swallowed a bitter, 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last night, though their magic number nonetheless dwindled to four. That is all that stands between the Sox and a fourth playoff spot in the past five years. Yet because their lead in the AL East has been trimmed to a mere 2 ½ games on the hard-charging New York Yankees, many Sox followers simply cannot help themselves.

We’ll never make it. We’re doooooooooooomed.

“It means a lot, but it means nothing as far as winning a World Series,” Sox manager Terry Francona said before the game when asked about the importance of a division title. “It means a lot for what you set out to accomplish, I think. I don’t think there’s any getting around that, and I don’t think we want to. But when it’s all said and done, it won’t have any bearing on how far we get into the postseason.”

Some of us thought Red Sox history changed forever in 2004. We thought the inferiority complex went out with the 86-year drought, the Curse of the Bambino, and all the other nonsensical stupidities that unnecessarily burdened a franchise and its followers.

Maybe we were wrong.

Maybe Red Sox fans need something silly to worry about because they are unhappy unless they are miserable.

Lest there be any doubt, the Sox are in tune-up mode with regard to the postseason. For them, at least, the Yankees are not as much of a concern as Eric Gagne, Daisuke Matsuzaka or Hideki Okajima. The Sox now lead the Detroit Tigers by seven games with 10 to play, and they are not about to sacrifice potential postseason success simply so they can say they won the division.

“Is it going to make or break things? No,” Red Sox captain Jason Varitek said of a potential division title. “Do I want it? Yeah...”

So really, what’s more important here: when you play, or against whom?

Sure the Red Sox have blown 12 games out of their 14.5 game division lead. Sure they've lost 5 of their last 6 to the Yankees, and 11 out of their last 21 overall. What's really important is getting into the playoffs. This swoon? Just a tune-up.

This Herald columnist has it wrong. What's really important is neither who you play or when you play, it's how you're playing. And if you're playing poorly enough to blow a 14.5 game lead, and to lose a lead of 2.5 games with just 10 games left to play, then you're not playing well enough to go very far. How many teams can you think of that crumbled in the stretch and then rebounded to win titles? Thought so.

The Red Sox aren't doomed, but if they do blow their division lead, it will be a sign that you shouldn't expect anything from them come the postseason.

An American Beslan?

Read it at the Standard.

DHS: Seventy Miles of Border Fence Built in FY07

CQ has the news:

The Department of Homeland Security says by the end of fiscal 2007 — 12 days away — it will have added 70 miles of new fencing along the border with Mexico.

DHS spokesman Brad Benson said in an interview that as of Monday the department had built 64.5 miles of fencing. A month ago, DHS had finished only 13 new miles, he said.

The department aims to build more than three times that — 225 miles of border fence — next fiscal year, for a total of 370 miles of fencing along the southern border when added to 75 miles of pre-existing border fence, Benson said.

This does at least put paid to the worst fears of border security proponents -- that the fence would never be built, right?

Cynthia McKinney Ponders Another Run for Congress

Read it at the Standard.

Popular Mechanics Produces Something Useful

If you're afraid of flying, consider a seat at the back of the plane. You may find yourself close to the bathrooms and you may have to wait for your soda, but there might be compensatory benefits:

MYTH: It Doesn't Matter Where You Sit
REALITY: It's Safer In the Back.

The funny thing about all those expert opinions: They're not really based on hard data about actual airline accidents. A look at real-world crash stats, however, suggests that the farther back you sit, the better your odds of survival. Passengers near the tail of a plane are about 40 percent more likely to survive a crash than those in the first few rows up front.

That's the conclusion of an exclusive Popular Mechanics study that examined every commercial jet crash in the United States, since 1971, that had both fatalities and survivors. The raw data from these 20 accidents has been languishing for decades in National Transportation Safety Board files, waiting to be analyzed by anyone curious enough to look and willing to do the statistical drudgework.

Disclaimer: accidents in air travel are extraordinarily rare. And air travel is far safer than driving. But if you're one of those that wants to minimize your risk, the info might come in handy.

Hell Has Frozen Over

If this is real -- and I can find no indication that it was faked -- it probably qualifies as the unlikeliest event I have ever seen:

If Mullah Omar Were Here...

....he'd be pretty pissed:



Here's the description appended on YouTube:

Celebrating the muslim new year in Afghanistan, American soldiers were invited to attend. One of us performed a decent rendition of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" and the rest of us can't sing anyway.

A sign of progress in the battle for hearts and minds? Obviously, it proves nothing -- except that good Irish music unites people of all cultures and backgrounds. Still, it's nice to see Americans and Afghans getting along so well.

Can't go wrong with this version of G-L-O-R-I-A, either.

Democratic Iraq Amendment to Put More Stress on Troops

Read it at the Standard.

Hillary's Felonious Fundraiser Threatens Republicans

I wrote before about Raul Martinez, the former Mayor of Hialeh convicted of extortion and racketeering, and tossed from office because of findings of voter fraud.
It seems he's also unable to keep his temper in line when talking with major editorial boards:

Former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez (D), who has been weighing a bid against Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R), apologized this week for his vulgar diatribe in an interview with The Miami Herald.

According to the newspaper, Martinez called the chairman of the state Republican Party a crude term for a female body part.

“I would debate any f—-ing Republican about my past,” Martinez is quoted as saying, adding later, “I will beat the s—- out of them.”

The state GOP was criticizing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for attending a fundraiser held by Martinez, who has successfully fought off corruption charges during his career.

Martinez told the Herald he is still unsure about running against Diaz-Balart.

OK - there are lots of vulgar and uncouth crooks who run for Congress, but should they really be organizing fundraisers for the Democratic front runner?

More Southwest Controversy

The recent incident in which a female passenger complained that she had been required to 'cover up' as a condition of traveling on Southwest has led plenty of people to come out of the woodwork, apparently. Now an obese passenger has come forward to complain that he was required at the last minute to purchase an additional ticket, given that he was too large to fit completely in one seat:



I can understand his being upset at being required to make the purchase at the last minute, and his surprise at being so required when he never had been before.

Is there a better alternative, though? Presumably any airline with such a rule would prefer to err 'heavily' on the side of not upsetting the passenger and risking loss of future business. And since few flyers buy their tickets in person, the first opportunity you have to determine whether a customer needs a second ticket is at check-in. Unless you propose to insert a pop-up on the ticket purchasing screen where you acknowledge that if you are over 300 pounds, you might require an additional ticket.

More generally, if the practical effect of a person's size is that he or she must use two seats -- ie, if it's plainly impossible to sit another passenger in the seat adjacent -- then it would be foolish of them not to require an additional ticket -- at least on a full flight, right? If you have to deny a flyer the right to travel, and preserve an open seat for this gentleman, then you have to charge him -- don't you? I have no way of knowing if that was the case here, just saying that I can see clear circumstances where this policy is really a no-brainer.

And of course, if you're an average person -- anywhere in the 150-200 pound range, you have to be thankful that at least one airline is 'looking out for you,' right?

Israel's Secret Attack on Syria's Iraqi Nuclear Weapons Actually Aimed at Iran

Read the details at California Yankee.

One thing to consider: in deciding how aggressively to act against Iran and Syria, Israel is likely to take into account the stances of the leading US presidential contenders. To the extent that our candidates make it clear that they will not tolerate a nuclear Iran, Israel may feel less compelled to act against Iran -- and to act quickly, before a less friendly US government is installed.

Update: Also check out Dan Riehl, who highlights an important point -- Syria's air defense is superior to Iran's:

IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Video of the Day

Slate covers what appears to be a trade show for food service companies specializing in correctional facilities:



Best quotes:

"The average prisoner can be fed for about $2.25 per day for three meals. We're not looking for exactly 'grade A' type product. You know -- 'grade B' -- which is just fine."

"We sell to correctional facilities and schools..."

"You don't want to have a lot of open fryers in a correctional market."

And For Your Listening Pleasure...

We haven't featured much Paul Anka here lately. And man! The cat has changed!

Check out his new album.

How about a little cover of Cyndi Lauper, or the most godawful version of Walking in Memphis you will ever hear.

Just remember -- the guys get shirts!

Trust General Petraeus, Not General Pelosi

Good for Dave Reichert.

Better than a Perpetual Motion Machine

A technology that produces more energy than it uses:

Even the makers of the device are at a loss to explain exactly how it works - but sceptical independent scientists carried out their own tests and discovered that the 12in x 2in tube really does produce far more heat energy than the electrical energy put in.

The device seems to break the fundamental physical law that energy cannot be created from nothing - but researchers believe it taps into a previously unrecognised source of energy, stored at a sub-atomic level within the hydrogen atoms in water.

Madeline Albright Still Doesn't Get It

Madeline Albright, top foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton:

I believe that Iraq is going to go down in history as the greatest disaster in American foreign policy. That means that I am acknowledging it is worse than Vietnam," she told the group.

Really? Greatest disaster? Worse even than sleepwalking through the 1990s, while Al Qaeda bombed our embassies abroad, bombed the Cole, attacked our soldiers in Saudi Arabia and planned the attacks of September 11?

How can a serious contender for the presidency let a surrogate say such foolish things?