Drop everything you’re doing and get yourself over to Texts from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It’s a brilliant mashup of innocent-looking stills from ST: TNG and rather less innocent text messages. This one is my favorite:
Nov 152013
Nov 132013
The federal government released its first ACA enrollment figures and, as expected, they reflect the troubled rollout of the healthcare.gov website. Less than 27,000 people have enrolled in a private health plan through the federal exchange. Compare that with approximately 35,000 people who enrolled in a health plan through the California exchange. In fact, California alone accounts for a third of the total enrollment in private plans (about 106,000). On a more positive note, nearly 400,000 people have enrolled in Medicaid, supporting my theory that the Medicaid expansion will prove much more critical to expanding access to health care than most people realize.
The enrollment numbers are certainly low, but I’m not going to worry unless the trend continues for another couple months. And the best way to increase enrollment is to fix the website.
Nov 122013
I recently blogged that I wasn’t much interested in the new iPad Air. But then I started to think that it might be nice to have more storage than my current 16 GB. And I started to think that the additional processing power might be nice for the occasional game. And one of my nurses offered me a reasonable sum for my 3rd-gen iPad.
Which is a long way of saying that I bought an iPad Air over the weekend. It really is just as sexy and svelte as it is in the pictures. A few apps are noticeably snappier and I won’t have to worry storage space anytime soon. An unnecessary purchase? Possibly. But when it comes to most of my tech upgrades, “necessary” isn’t at the top of my criteria list.
Nov 082013
Netflix and Disney have reached a deal that will bring several series based on Marvel characters to the streaming service. This is almost certainly welcome news for comic book nerds like myself, although I worry that quantity might compromise quality. I’m most interested in the Jessica Jones series, which hopefully will be based on the excellent and rather dark Alias comic series from the mid-Aughts.
Marvel is becoming quite adept at playing the 21st-century media game with its carefully choreographed slate of movies, TV shows, and other properties. Still, I wonder if we’re nearing peak superhero in our pop culture.
Nov 062013
MNsure, Minnesota’s insurance exchange, released its October enrollment numbers today. Nearly 11,000 people have enrolled in coverage; over 9,000 have enrolled in Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare. This is consistent with enrollment data from other states indicating Medicaid enrollment that far exceeds enrollment in private health plans. It’s too early to draw conclusions from one month of enrollment data, but it will be interesting to see whether the trend persists. It could be that low-income people are more motivated to enroll in coverage and that these numbers will even out as the enrollment deadline approaches. It may also indicate that the Medicaid expansion is more critical than we first realized. The data also raises questions about increasing health care disparities between states. A low-income family in Minnesota will have much better access to health care than a low-income family in South Dakota.
Nov 052013
For a team that has been decimated by the injury fairy, the Packers still looked like strong playoff contender going into last night’s game against the Bears. But then the injury fairy, apparently unsatisfied with the destruction it had already wreaked, sunk its teeth into our star quarterback. After Rodgers left the field, the Packers could hardly buy a first down. Backup quarterback Seneca Wallace couldn’t be expected to coordinate the offense like Rodgers does, but he doesn’t seem to possess the skill necessary to be even a middling replacement.
Twitter sources state that Rodgers may miss 3 weeks with a collarbone fracture. That may not be a fatal blow to the team’s playoff chances, but the Packers must figure out how to win the next few games with a C-list QB.
Nov 042013
I played the role of the Frustrated Moviegoer this past weekend. On Saturday, I had planned on seeing Ender’s Game, but last-minute staffing changes made that impracticable. On Sunday, I had planned on seeing 12 Years a Slave with a friend, but thanks to a chronic parking shortage in Uptown. it was sold out by the time I arrived. That may have been just as well, as I’m not sure my chair would have fit in the Uptown Theater’s jury-rigged stairlift.
I have a long weekend coming up, which should give me ample opportunity to reverse my cinematic fortunes. I may even try to squeeze in the new Thor movie if the reviews are encouraging. Be prepared for a bunch of reviews next week.
Nov 012013
I voted early today for Minneapolis mayor. None of the candidates possess R.T. Rybak’s charm or vision, but Betsy Hodges strikes me as the most progressive of the bunch. She has a passion for addressing inequality, which may translate into more concerted efforts to narrow the city’s glaring racial disparities. Hodges may also be able to push for further modernization of our transit system and bring more decent-paying jobs to the city.
As for City Council, I wrote in myself because I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Lisa Goodman’s bland leadership again. Her votes against several urban density projects have left me frustrated and I don’t know that she has any real notion of how to run a 21st century city. Somebody really needs to replace her in 2017.
Hmm…
Oct 312013
I’m a little sad that we don’t have more kids in my building. I have so many ideas for costumes that would totally freak them out.
Enjoy your Halloween.
Oct 292013
Having failed in their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, conservatives are now trying to blame Obama for the health plan cancellation notices that are now going out to customers. They point out that Obama previously stated that people who liked their current plans could keep them and that those statements must have been either deceitful or ignorant.
First, Obama and Democrats have never been great at explaining the details of the law. Politicians generally aren’t wonks and they don’t like making wonkish qualified statements like “Most people will be able to keep their current plans.” Second, the cancellation of these plans is a feature of the law, not a bug. These plans didn’t comply with the ACA because they didn’t offer certain essential services or they had excessive cost-sharing requirements. The ACA-compliant plans will offer richer benefits and stronger cost-sharing protections. Yes, some people may end up paying higher premiums than they do now, but this seems like an acceptable trade-off to me. It’s not as if most people on the individual market were terribly happy with their current individual plans.
If people want to argue that we should be allowed to pay for crappy coverage, that’s fine. It’s just not a terribly compelling argument.