tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post532562516417679760..comments2024-03-28T04:58:13.341-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Well, at least science pushes on...David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36893839401914515192009-11-21T19:12:50.848-08:002009-11-21T19:12:50.848-08:00@Rob,
I might buy that argument if I heard it fro...@Rob,<br /><br />I might buy that argument if I heard it from consumer advocacy lobbyists, but I don't. Those who lobby most about interstate insurance are the insurance company lobbyists.David Smelserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08596446730839038592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50262630198946727822009-11-21T15:06:14.070-08:002009-11-21T15:06:14.070-08:00Newton Debunked!
http://carbonfixated.com/newtong...Newton Debunked!<br /><br />http://carbonfixated.com/newtongate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-renaissance-and-enlightenment-thinking/Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47422414275877217892009-11-21T10:25:45.620-08:002009-11-21T10:25:45.620-08:00The other problem with tilapia is that the farmed ...The other problem with tilapia is that the farmed variety is being fed "protein meal" - ground up critters - in order to increase yields.<br /><br />That's right, we have yet to learn the lesson from the CJD problem.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08752812629976169897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20772338415070997262009-11-20T18:30:55.522-08:002009-11-20T18:30:55.522-08:00It seems to me that "allow inerstate competit...<em> It seems to me that "allow inerstate competition" is a kleptocratic speak for "negate state rights to regulate".</em><br /><br />That's a cynical way to look at it. Right now, there is no federal oversight over insurance; all insurance is sold state-by-state. <br /><br />But consider the Portland, OR; Cincinnati, OH; Kansas City, MO; Memphis, TN; and many other places where the big city is smack up against a State border.<br /><br />People in Vancouver, WA; Newport, KY; Olathe, KS, West Memphis, AR, places like that, are prohibited by law from pooling risk with people who are a scant few miles away, share basically the same life style and general political views, etc.<br /><br />That makes the health insurance for those outlying communities much, much more expensive for its people, than people a 10 minute drive away. <br /><br />That goes as well without mentioning that within these smaller pools are people who game the individual market by buying insurance when they know they have an elective procedure, paying a low premium, racking up a huge draw on the risk pool, and then canceling once all the bills are into the system. <br /><br />Interstate risk pooling (and year-long contracts) would help mitigate those two cost inequity problems, by tapping into a much larger group of people.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618647194288598056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87146241770198023812009-11-20T16:53:50.806-08:002009-11-20T16:53:50.806-08:00Tacitus2 said...
Allow interstate competition betw...Tacitus2 said...<br />Allow interstate competition between insurers.<br /><br />David S:<br />What now prevents an insurance company setting up shop is a new state? <br /><br />It seems to me that "allow inerstate competition" is a kleptocratic speak for "negate state rights to regulate". How will "allowing interstate competition" not turn into a race to relocate the insurance head quarters to the state that benefits the insurance company best?David Smelserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08596446730839038592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26927699195902758752009-11-20T12:59:42.855-08:002009-11-20T12:59:42.855-08:00On to next posting....On to next posting....David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31953070928761701362009-11-20T12:37:14.742-08:002009-11-20T12:37:14.742-08:00I agree with all you say, Tacitus. Except the sit...I agree with all you say, Tacitus. Except the situation remains as I described it. <br /><br /> A sincere GOP could have negotiated over ALL of this. Indeed, Reid and Pelosi have tossed them bone after bone after bone... without enticing a single Republican to come on over and start dickering in good faith.<br /><br />Do some goppers raise some good points? Sure! But when raising good points boils down to a tactic in scorched earth partisanship, that hardly qualifies as much of a high attribute.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52899949764459266922009-11-20T12:05:59.182-08:002009-11-20T12:05:59.182-08:00The Republicans actually have put forward ideas on...The Republicans actually have put forward ideas on improving our health care system...they mirror the ideas I proposed months ago, right here.<br />Allow interstate competition between insurers. Serious tort reform. Take a hard look at the tax exempt status of the health care benefit. Reasonable starting points. And when the majority party controls all the mechanisms of legistative operation, none of them are going anywhere.<br /><br />My problems with the current legistative mess is that they are expanding/extending the benefits with no real effort to control the costs. That happens later. Maybe. <br />I don't deny that there is a large amount of politikin' going on. But sometimes I wonder if the Dem approach is really more about social equality than about making sure everyone can afford their appendectomy. Our current health care system provides, unevenly, such a ludicrosly generous set of bennie's. No waiting. No age limits. Not much gatekeeping. No requirement to use generics. Viagra, please.<br /><br />Given a choice between a more austere system that we could actually all afford, and Medical Disneyland for all, the Democratic party did not blink an eye...<br /><br />I give them points for cohones for saying this is all gonna work financially.<br /><br />Tacitus2Tacitus2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49425793259480291402009-11-20T11:35:52.368-08:002009-11-20T11:35:52.368-08:00Guys, read up on this.
Regulatory capture.
http:...Guys, read up on this.<br /><br />Regulatory capture.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture<br /><br />Then ponder this. Most of the effective DE-regulation of US bureaucracy... reducing the extent of regulatory capture... happened under democrats.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66808598691380220952009-11-20T11:33:27.155-08:002009-11-20T11:33:27.155-08:00Rewinn, efforts to snap the libertarians out of th...Rewinn, efforts to snap the libertarians out of their simpleminded, indignation-junkie stupor continue at: http://www.reformthelp.org/<br /><br />Unfortunately, the site is badly maintained and a number of my essays there have been lost. But you can see the gist at<br />http://www.davidbrin.com/libertarianarticle1.html<br /><br />Alas, the movement now perfectly characterizes the mood of culture war. Absolute, smug insistence on perfect virtue and a perfect model of the world, ignoring all contrary evidence or need for re-evaluation, and utter contempt for non-believers or heretics. The failure of the LP to improve its electoral standing in 2008 -- of all years(!!!) -- should have been seen as an alarum-call for careful re-evaluation. Instead, it became cause for retrenchment into dogma and contempt for the masses... which is the resort of ideological ninnies.<br /><br />No, while I share the dream of a sane, pragmatic LP rising up to represent free enterprise solutions to modern problems, in a fairminded and vigorously stimulating debate with "consensus-solution" folks -- becoming a true home for those in America who are legitimately suspicious of government power, but who also want progress and change -- unfortunately, that potential replacement for the GOP just ain't gonna happen.<br /><br />No, our best hope for a new two party system lies within the True Legislature of the United States... the Democratic Party. For the GOP to self- destruct, and for the reasonable conservatives and small-"L" libertarians to tug away the "blue dog" dems into a new party that Ike and TR and Lincoln might actually recognize.<br /><br />Tacitus says: Regards opposition to a public option.
The concern is that a public option would soon become the sole option, except for the very wealthy.A fed run entity could, plausibly, have an unfair competitive edge."<br /><br />And yes, that is a perfectly reasonable complaint! That is, it would be, <i>if it were being raised by people who -- thereupon -- engaged in sincere negotiation, offering proposals that might help to prevent that from happening.</i><br /><br /><b>That</b> would be something called "reciprocal accountability" plus iterative problem solving and consensus building. But it is not what anybody at all is doing on the right. And let me be plain, it is a kind of treason (!) for them to pose and shout these accusations, instead of using them as a basis for negotiation and thus improvement of the dem's bill.<br /><br />If we are stuck with some of the problems they predict, then it will be THEIR FAULT for not playing their part in an adult process of foresight and preventative legislative problem solving.<br /><br />Tacitus said: Conservatives have, as Dr.Brin has mentioned, an innate distrust of impersonal, big government beaurocracies,<br /><br />Actually, I will demure here. They TALK a lot about that, but government power grew prodigiously under the Bushites. Sure, they don't like the bureaucrats themselves -- smarty pants civil servants who actually try to make the laws function. But they LOVE the actual bureaucracy, whose complexities have allowed them to steal like mad and favor monopolies over small business, at every turn.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34291580568564598232009-11-20T11:33:14.798-08:002009-11-20T11:33:14.798-08:00Tacitus,
Isn't the lack of competition for in...Tacitus,<br /><br />Isn't the lack of competition for insurance companies part of the problem with healthcare in America?<br /><br />Also, the 'public option' in the bill passed by the house and the bill currently working through the Senate would not allow for any such competition between the government and insurance providers, if I understand it correctly, since the 'public option' insurance is still provided for by the insurance companies, and just subsidized by the government instead of actually being provided by the government.Ilithi Dragonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10300247936272572280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85335730992308863652009-11-20T09:17:57.364-08:002009-11-20T09:17:57.364-08:00Robert
Regards opposition to a public option.
The ...Robert<br />Regards opposition to a public option.<br />The concern is that a public option would soon become the sole option, except for the very wealthy.<br />A fed run entity could, plausibly, have an unfair competitive edge.<br />The government would in the final analysis have the say on what goods, services and individuals all must cover. Said government, albeit a different arm of it, also judges compliance for all and metes out penalties. It would be very difficult to sue the government run entity, private plans, not so much. And once the State is the health care provider, it would be very difficult for the public option to not be generously funded, probably to the point of an unfair subsidy.<br />I do not say all these things would happen, but merely that they are reasonable concerns.<br />Conservatives have, as Dr.Brin has mentioned, an innate distrust of impersonal, big government beaurocracies, where the response to any inconvenient challenge is a wafting heav'nward of uncallused hands and the suggestion that some other department might be able to do something about your problem if it were not a Federal holiday and that there was a regulation that really made any other point of view non viable.<br />Oh, and I actually philosophically support health care reform. Shame the Obama admin has made such a hash of it.<br />Tacitus2Tacitus2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76193649922753737672009-11-20T08:53:38.294-08:002009-11-20T08:53:38.294-08:00Robert:
If may be that the interests of individua...Robert:<br /><br />If may be that the interests of individual Republicans clash with that of the Party as a whole.<br /><br />Those who join in the effort to block any progress that might have the side-effect of cutting profits are personally guaranteed an income for life. The type specimen is <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2004-12-15-drugs-usat_x.htm" rel="nofollow">Billy Tauzin, </a><br /><br />That the GOP as an organization may be temporarily harmed is not terribly important to Tauzin's backers; in the short run they run up tons of money and, in the long run, they'll use a little of their stash to refresh the brand name.<br /><br />What a pity the Libertarians lack the whatever-it-takes to actually win an election. While their domestic policies have never worked, I'd cheerfully let them take over foreign policy in any GOP administration. Or in the current administration too!rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44211875658986497472009-11-20T05:53:13.442-08:002009-11-20T05:53:13.442-08:00On a public health care option, looking at my pay ...On a public health care option, looking at my pay stub, if my income tax doubled to pay for a public option health plan, it would be less expensive than what I pay Blue cross for coverage on myself and my child, after the employer contribution. I suppose that first rate health system happens for a higher tax bracket. <br /><br /><br />Boxylet, rejected, though fitting name for the Chevette.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2240167065108802912009-11-20T05:29:30.628-08:002009-11-20T05:29:30.628-08:00One thing I can't quite figure out with the re...One thing I can't quite figure out with the recent health care debate is why Republicans are dead set against a public option. When you look at the fundamentals of their arguments, those fundamentals are lies. People don't want a public option... except that polls show that people wouldn't mind a public <i>option</i> as an <i>alternative</i> to existing private insurance plans to encourage further competition. It would cost too much... except that the cost is less than a number of the weapon systems that ended up as duds that have existed in military spending. And so forth.<br /><br />It seems like the supposed fears that Republicans are trying to stir up and claim are responsible for their being against the Democrat plan are smoke bombs to distract from the larger picture. If they worked <i>with</i> Democrats in forging a decent and less expensive plan, then something truly worthwhile would come about. But they refuse to work with that "upstart" President and "his" Congress.<br /><br />Is their pride so overweening? Are they so deep in the pockets of private insurance companies? Why are Republicans building this Fortress of Forgetaboutit that will ultimately leave them isolated and unable to compete? (It's not just Health care, for that matter. I have to respect Mike Huckabee for standing up against the Republican base and saying "shame on you!" for their snide remarks about Obama doing things from viewing the returning bodies of dead servicemen to holding a Halloween party at the White House. It doesn't matter how much good Obama does with any of his actions, they're acting like Obama lost the popular election and barely squeaked out an electoral win rather than winning by nearly 10% and with a significant electoral majority.)<br /><br />Meh. I probably shouldn't grouse before the morning coffee....<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40962220731935781562009-11-19T14:14:25.131-08:002009-11-19T14:14:25.131-08:00If The Waters of Mars are any indication, perhaps ...If <i>The Waters of Mars</i> are any indication, perhaps we should stay away from the waters of the moon!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15030764857062052822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67563719376857964692009-11-19T13:09:51.469-08:002009-11-19T13:09:51.469-08:00While scientifically significant, I have trouble s...While scientifically significant, I have trouble seeing lunar water at 10-100 ppm as economically significant. Its seems like it is being sold as an excuse to spend billions on a Moon base that will have no real effect on our ability to go to Mars or elsewhere. Launching moon water by space tug to dock with a Mars-bound ship to refuel it is the best scenario discussed, but why spend billions doing that when spending fewer billions launching fuel from Earth would be much cheaper? It seems like a scam from the Moon advocates that will only result is neither Moon bases nor Mars missions.Rocky Persaudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02966159044771053090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69720527695374901752009-11-19T10:32:36.619-08:002009-11-19T10:32:36.619-08:00http://www.eff.org/issues/acta>http://www.eff.o...<a href="http://www.eff.org/issues/acta" rel="nofollow">http://www.eff.org/issues/acta>http://www.eff.org/issues/acta</a><br /><br /><i>According to leaked information: because the negotiations are secret;<br /><br />on a third accusation of internet piracy, you could not only lose your IP for a year, but this would be public, and all other companies could deny you access also. <br /><br /> If someone hacked your wireless network, you and everyone in your household could lose your internet access, with NO Judicial oversight, no review, no necessity to actually prove you did anything...</i><br /><br />And "Innocent until proven guilty" passes into the long dark night.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70270908760634198952009-11-19T09:39:18.894-08:002009-11-19T09:39:18.894-08:00The Foglios (of Girl Genius) seem to be experiment...The Foglios (of Girl Genius) seem to be experimenting with what might be called a twitter novel: <a href="http://twitter.com/Othar" rel="nofollow">Othar's Twitter</a>.<br /><br />It's intended to be experienced as a periodic twitter from a "Gentleman Adventurer". Of course, to get the whole thing, you have to read it from the BEGINNING (in 2007), BACKWARD and, for pacing purposes, one twitter per day.<br /><br />While the content is steampunk/gaslight fantasy/comic SF, the concept might work structurally for other genres including serious fiction of all sorts. But economically? (...assuming authors have to eat...) I don't know; for the Foglios, this is just part of their Empire that they seem to support through the online sale of books, T-shirts, et cetera .... and good for them, they earned success! But I don't know whether it'd work for many others.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4176146738223060432009-11-18T17:05:32.788-08:002009-11-18T17:05:32.788-08:00The first creatures to be uplifted in any signific...The first creatures to be uplifted in any significant numbers, will (hopefully) be human beings.TwinBeamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79590351815137451732009-11-18T09:31:03.840-08:002009-11-18T09:31:03.840-08:00David Brin said... Wikipedia...
Here at work, whe...<b>David Brin said...</b> <i>Wikipedia...</i><br /><br />Here at work, where I'm limited to the sites I can browse (mostly news sites, google based sites, and wikipedia), I keep a wiki page open all day long, just following links. While not that good for deep knowledge, it definitely helps with getting a grip on things and how they're related. Reminds me a bit of a show back in the 90's called Connections (?). Kinda' fun.JuhnDonnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06795417373366495092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47324698403002719512009-11-18T04:36:49.464-08:002009-11-18T04:36:49.464-08:00Dave Rickey wrote
although I'm currently catc...Dave Rickey wrote<br /><br />although I'm currently catching up on Stirling's The Change series,<br /><br /><br /><br />more they go on, more they turn into fantasy (well, Clarke's Law), the entities who caused the Change* may have been gods, aliens or post/trans human civilizations.<br />(*We fans have dissected the authorial fiat ad nauseam, but there is no way to relate the change in gas behavior to the change in electrical conductivity)<br /><br /><br />And Steve, who's no fool when it comes to marketing, is doing a urban fantasy with vampires (with a lot of scientific explanations balancing the fantasy side, and it was a retake of Williamson's Darker than you think well in advance to the current Twilight fad)<br /><br /><br />word: sessico: odd form for an Italian article meaning "sex-related?"Marinonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59958699397956212182009-11-17T23:38:27.922-08:002009-11-17T23:38:27.922-08:00Flipping pages on wikipedia would not be as immedi...Flipping pages on wikipedia would not be as immediate as paper, unless you had a lot of it cached on a fast machine, seems possible, though I don't know how. If you could flip through as fast as I liked to with the World Book encyclopedias, you'd still have to deal with knowledge restrictors who might not wish a page on methamphetamines to exist, or be easily accessed.<br /><br />yelityp, a precursor communication tech., with megaphones.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71078793885548933062009-11-17T19:27:14.998-08:002009-11-17T19:27:14.998-08:00You can flip randomly through Wikipedia (although ...You can flip randomly through Wikipedia (although this is more likely to take you to a pop-culture page than anything useful), but Wikipedia isn't just one reference, it's a collection of them, each with it's own consensualist oligarchy maintaining, organizing, and refining it. Sure, are *most* people pursuing it voraciously, learning the equivalent of several degrees worth of knowledge in a matter of months? No. But most kids didn't read the encyclopedia to kill time, either (something I also did). I stand by my position, the very best of our "best and brightest" are becoming scary-smart in a way that eclipses even the 12 year-old collegians of our era.<br /><br />--DaveDave Rickeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02567136316289610947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62837050057644294582009-11-17T18:43:57.197-08:002009-11-17T18:43:57.197-08:00Yes, electronic browsing doesn't hold a candle...Yes, electronic browsing doesn't hold a candle to the old way. Surely it wouldn't be hard to set up a sidebar of random references?<br /><br />peataho: Western Irish version of a 'hangi'Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.com