Lawyers allege being a woman not a “Pre-Existing Condition”

A bunch of lawyers, in an attempt to provoke a SOCIALIST TAKEOVER of the great and beneficial insurance industry, are claiming that having a uterus is no reason to be charged HIGHER INSURANCE PREMIUMS.

The lawyers, working for the thoroughly unbiased National Women’s Law Center, even talked The Whimpernator –  COMMIE-SYMPATHIZER & SELLOUT Gov. Schwarzenegger, to sign a law state law banning gender rating, which is the practice of charging women higher insurance rates than men for the same services.

But wait it gets worse! The NWLC (clearly an ACORN front group) now wants this same OVER REGULATION applied TO THE ENTIRE NATION! The group’s hairy-legged leader, Marcia Greenberger, told the DEMOCRAT CONTROLLED SENATE,

"Across health insurance markets, discriminatory industry practices put fair and affordable coverage out of reach for far too many women. We have heard repeatedly from predominately female businesses that have learned that their health insurance premiums are higher because of the gender of their employees.”

Note that she said, “heard repeatedly from predominately female businesses.” Well they’re just a bunch of biased whiners. And get a load of these “statistics”

• Women are charged as much as 48 percent more than men for health insurance. (OF COURSE THEY ARE! Men don’t have those naughty bits! Naughty bits are expensive!)
• Of the more than 3,500 plans studied, 60 percent did not cover maternity care. (Maternity care is a another plot to subvert CAPITALISM! My mother didn’t care about me and look how I turned out!)

 

 

(Waits for someone to not get this…)

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“Company tries to get gun classed as medical device”

From NewScientist via BoingBoing:

A company called Constitution Arms claims that the FDA has classed its “Palm Pistol” (a squeezable handgun suitable for people with arthritis) as a Class I medical device (“a classification reserved for devices that pose little risk to a patient’s health, such as stethoscopes and walking aids”) and they imply that Medicare will help you buy one. The FDA denies any certification and an expert on medical device regulation says that Medicare probably wouldn’t subsidize these even if the FDA gave it the nod.

“It’s something that they need to assist them in daily living,” says Matthew Carmel, president of Constitution Arms in Maplewood, New Jersey, which hopes to manufacture the Palm Pistol – now just a patent and specifications.

And to think it’s still 3.75 months until April 1.

Tea leaves not looking promising for McCain

I hesitate to make a prediction but the race for president may not wind up being as close as it currently looks.

First the TV audience:

1. Hillary Clinton’s speech (26.0 million viewers) had higher ratings than Michelle Obama’s speech (22.3 million viewers).
2. Almost five times as many people (26 million) watched Day Two coverage in 2008 vs. Day Two in 2004 (5.9 million) when only the cable networks covered the convention

It will be interesting to see the numbers for tonight. But last night’s numbers don’t suck either:

More than 24 million people watched the third night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention — a 7.5% decrease from 26 million viewers on day two of the convention.

Wednesday night’s speeches, which featured Former President Bill Clinton’s endorsement of Senator Obama and Senator Joseph Biden’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for vice president, drew 12.2% of all African American viewers — down slightly from the prevous night when Hillary Clinton addressed the convention (12.7%), but up from day one (12%), when Michelle Obama spoke.

Viewers age 55 and older continue to dominate the DNC’s TV audience, with 18.1% of all Americans in that age group — 12.5 million people — tuning in to Wednesday night’s convention coverage on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, BET, and TV One.

Perhaps most telling is this: The 24 million who watched last night was a third larger than the 18 million who watched day three of the 2004 Democratic snooze fest.

Then the live audience:

According to the Dayton Daily News, Sen. John McCain is still giving away tickets to his Friday rally where he will unveil his running mate. He’s having trouble filling a 10,000 seat arena.

(BTW, all 75K seats seem filled for tonight’s speech at Mile High Stadium by Mr. Obama)

All of which may be caused by the McCain campaign’s astounding ability to say exactly the wrong thing. First there was former advisor Phill Gramm’s “American’s are whiners” reaction to the current economic troubles. This of course was still eclipsed by the candidate himself saying he didn’t know how many houses he had. While nothing will ever top that one there’s today’s wonderful bon bête on how to deal with the health insurance issue:

“The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care. So, there you have it. Voila! Problem solved.” — John Goodman (not the actor), president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank, and the person who helped draft. Sen. John McCain’s health care policy.

Best line in the story: “Goodman said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort.” I believe Goodman was quoting a classic solution to problems of the poor originally conceived of a by a Mr. Dickens. Too bad he hadn’t read Mr. Swift.

Suddenly the malaprops of Dan Quayle and even the our current Inarticulator-In-Chief don’t seem so bad.

All that said, the good senator from Arizona is hardly out of it by any account. Should he pick either Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Christine Todd Whitman (former governor of New Jersey and ex-chief of the EPA) as VP he could really make it close. That would get him a lot of Hillary defectors. While the senator has been mentioned as a possible veep it is as the longest of shots, the governor has not even got that close.

BTW, you could save some time and read this stuff at the place I get it: Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire. I  recommend it highly.

What The Fluff? fest comes to town

Loyal reader doubtless remembers how passionate we are about Marshmallow Fluff here in the Bay State (where it was invented). Earlier this year a state rep stepped in to the fluff when he offered a bill that would ban the corn-syrup based concotion from being served in public schools. The measure was withdrawn after opponents pointed out that Fluff was no more or less harmful than the corn-syrup based “jelly” that the schools also use. (This would seem an argument for banning both, but never mind.) Also, last spring Fluff purveyors Durkee-Mower sued the far-more upscale Williams-Sonoma to stop them from purveying a candy called Fluffernutter.

All of which goes to explain why this Saturday I will have the opportunity/duty to attend What The Fluff in Somerville, MA. The event bills itself as “the ultimate tribute to Union Square resident Archibald Query who invented Marshmallow Fluff here in 1917.”

Non-marshmallow treats include:

• The Flufferettes (aka Thru the Keyhole Cuties)
• Music from Los Diablos, “the reigning ‘Kings of Irish-Jewish Folk-Punk'”
• A cooking contest with prizes that include: “a trip for two in a chauffeured Zip Car (BMW or convertible Mini-Cooper) to Lynn for a private tour of the Durkee-Mower factory, a year’s supply of Marshmallow Fluff and more”

The local drinking establishments are also joining in with Fluffy potent potables including the Fluffachino — espresso with frangelico or amaretto with Fluff melting on top, the Fluffernutter Martini — a chocolate martini with Fluff and Reese’s Pieces on the rim, and — the “Coney Island Men’s Room” — blue martini with dollop of strawberry Fluff floating on top. I do not say the following lightly: I was never, ever so drunk that any of those would have been appealing. (Does anyone know what an actual martini is anymore?)

Douglas Adams right again: Lack of phone sanitizers will doom planet

As you doubtlessly remember, somewhere in the Hitchhiker’s Guide series Mr. Adams told the story of the The Golgafrinchans, a race of people who sent their Telephone Sanitizer population away. The Sanitizers were sent along with another third of the planet’s population who were also deemed useless to form a colony on a remote planet (Earth as it happens). Of course, the remaining Golgafrinchan population was then wiped out by a virulent disease contracted via unsanitary telephones.

Researchers have now confirmed Mr. A’s prophecy, finding that the phone is indeed a key spreader of germs. According to Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and clean water expert at the University of Arizona, it’s telephones and computer keyboards that are among the most germ laden spots in any home, not the usual suspects.

"Doorknobs are usually on the low side," said Gerba, who has conducted dozens of surveys of bacteria and viruses in workplaces and homes. "I guess they are not moist. Never fear a doorknob."

Words to live by: Never fear a doorknob.

The best way to combat this is by carrying your own phone and keyboard with you at all times. And wash your hands compulsively. Howard Hughes did and lived to a ripe old age. It’s physical hygiene, not mental hygiene that counts folks.

“But wait,” you say. “Won’t I look like a dork if I’m continually washing my hands or using one of those instant hand washing lotions that come in such clearly un-cool bottles?” Never fear! (Especially not doorknobs!) Corporate America is there for you.

Gojo has created the “PURELL® FST™ MILITARY BOTTLE A FISTFUL OF PROTECTION IN THE WAR ON GERMS.” And what could be cooler than that?

"The 3 fl oz. PURELL® FST Military Bottle is the ideal solution for military personnel to use, wherever their mission takes them. In as little as 15 seconds, PURELL® Instant Hand Sanitizer kills 99.99% of most common germs that may cause illness."

In other words, it’s Purell® in an olive drab plastic bottle. My homeland is feeling more secure already.

“But wait again,” you say. “Surely such an important breakthrough in personal hygiene is restricted to the use of the men and women in our Armed Services?!?!” No, now YOU TOO can enjoy this product in the privacy of your own home.

The Betty Mills Company, one of America's leading suppliers of janitorial and office products (like you didn’t know) now has for sale

“the PURELL® FST™ Military Bottle, a novel product package that has never been available to the American public before. … For a limited time only, The Betty Mills Co. offers two free bottles of PURELL® Instant Hand Sanitizer FST™ Military Bottle with ANY website order of $149 or more. The PURELL® Instant Hand Sanitizer FST™ Military Bottle is also available for purchase by the case of 12 units.”

“But wait yet again,” you say (don’t you ever shut up?). “What if our foes in the War On Terror®™ were to get this? Are there any safeguards in place to make sure that they don’t get access to the instant hand sanitizer that is helping our military stay healthy and mission ready?”

Sadly, no security measures whatsoever are in place. We’re all gonna die.