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POPSHealth Costs Outpace Inflation And Wage Growth
So they're passing the costs to employees, who're paying higher deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses while often receiving less comprehensive coverage for their money. Twenty-one percent of firms with insurance coverage reduced benefits or increased employee cost-sharing due to the recession, the survey found. Fifteen percent increased their workers' shares of the monthly premium. "When health care costs continue to rise so much faster than overall inflation in a bad recession, workers and employers really feel the pain," said Drew Altman, the president and chief executive of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Employers typically pay about $9,860 of the standard $13,375 family policy, the survey found. Workers pick up the rest, about $3,515 or 27 percent. That's the same share as last year. The cost of single coverage increased slightly this year, averaging about $4,824 compared to $4,704 last year. Employees pay about 17 percent of the cost, or $779 toward the coverage.
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POPS"Left" out at catcher Remarkable, i had no idea this was the case for left handed catchers. And if you think baseball has something against lefty infielders too, you'd be right... "Not one left-handed thrower has played an inning at shortstop in the majors in 100 years. As for second base, there have been only three since World War II" Wow. Talk about inside baseball...this stuff is the baseball equivalent of molecular biology
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POPSIraq on the brink of another Civil War
Whenever and wherever a despot has died and left a country in political limbo, that country has had problems. When Spain and Portugal went through their Nemesis in the 70's and 80's, they had stable European neighbours to call on. Of all the deaths that threatened stability, it was perhaps only Franco who had made provisions for his demise and reinstalled a King to give the population a focal point. Tito made no provisions at all and the result was the worst form of Civil War imaginable, with, one has to remember, the defining of Ethnic Cleansing. Those countries were safe for law abiding people. Armed policemen patrolled most streets and their form of rule and law prevailed. The soft minded liberals infested the emergent countries with wholly unattainable ideals. Ideals that do not even work in a stable democracy like Britain. Why does Liberalism not work? Because there are those out there who wish us harm and the Liberal Elite cannot conceive such a truth.
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POPSYouTube Begins Streaming Approved CBS Content YouTube and CBS have not disclosed their revenue sharing terms, but YouTube must be receiving less than 30 percent of the ad revenue, considering that CBS refused to join NBC and FOX at Hulu because it didn't want to give up the 30 percent revenue share that the site was asking for. Instead, CBS has chosen to do 80-20 deals with various syndication partners. YouTube accounts for 44.1 percent of online videos views in the U.S., compared to Hulu's one percent of views. YouTube has a long way to go achieve the viewing experience that Hulu presents, but if the video giant is willing to take a slightly smaller revenue share across the board, it may just have found a way to edge its way into the network business and eat Hulu's lunch.
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POPSThe Music Industry’s Last Stand Will Be A Music Tax The article (please read it all before you comment), basically states the idea of putting a $5-10 tax on all ISP Monthly bills. This tax would then allow you to download all the music, etc you want, DRM free without the fear of reprisals from the industry. The writer of the article seems to think this is a bad idea, however, IMO its a great idea. I know that not everyone downloads content illegally, but at least here in Canada, we all pay taxes for things we don't use or rarely use. many Canadians never get really sick or visit doctors, etc, yet they still pay taxes. Many Canadians work all their lives and never worry about being un employed, but we still pay "Employment Insurance" taxes. So maybe it would work here in Canada, and not in the US? Well, we will be better for it. Besides, what's $5 on a $80 cable & internet bill? Barely noticeable. (continued...)
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POPSThree Senators Opened The Door For Iraq Oil Contracts For Red China but the resulting media hooraw in Iraq led to the cancellation of the contracts, and helps to explain why Iraq is doing oil deals instead with China. Senators Schumer, McCaskill, and Kerry claimed: “It is our fear that this action by the Iraqi government could further deepen political tensions in Iraq and put our service members in even great danger.” For that reason, presumably, Schumer went so far as to ask the senior vice president of Exxon “if his company would agree to wait until the GOI produced a fair, equitable, and transparent hydrocarbon revenue sharing law before it signed any long-term agreement with the GOI.” Exxon naturally refused, but Schumer managed to get the deal killed anyway.
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POPSCar Pool of The Future Zipcar costumers avoid high monthly car payments and insurance premiums. Members simply pay a monthly or yearly fee. Then, whenever they need to use a car for a pre-arranged amount of time, they look up the nearest Zipcar location, where they swipe a card, take the keys, and drive off.
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POPSU.S. officials condoned Kurdish oil deal From the article.... "Kurdish officials have clashed with Baghdad over the national oil law, which will determine how contracts are awarded and how revenues are distributed. The northern Iraqi region has signed several exploration deals with foreign firms, which Baghdad says are illegal."
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POPSForeign Firms Investing In Iraq Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, in Washington on an official visit, said Monday that larger U.S. firms were waiting for more security before entering the market. Zebari noted that Turkish and Russian companies were already active in Iraq. "They take risks," he told USA TODAY in an interview. "No pain, no gain." Many of the companies active in Iraq now are from countries, including France, Russia and Turkey, that did not send combat troops to back the U.S.-led invasion. Some U.S. and Iraqi officials say American companies risk losing an early opportunity to establish long-term strategic ties with Iraq. "My question is, 'Where are you guys in terms of investment, in terms of economic engagement?' " said Naufel al-Hassan, Iraq's commercial counselor in Washington. "Iraqis need your support. Why let someone else do that?" http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-06-16-iraqinvestment_N.htm?csp=34
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POPSThe U.S. Applies Pressure on Iraq for its oil...or else! This excellent article from Walrus Magazine of Canada, makes very important reading for anyone truly interested in the U.S. arm twisting and manipulations of the Iraqi government to convince them to give up their sovereignty of its own natural resource so the U.S. interests can control it. This is really a MUST READ.
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POPSKucinich: Bush Cronies and privitization of Iraqi Oil
More: The connections between Hunt Oil Company and the Bush Administration are numerous: * Mr. Ray Hunt, CEO of Hunt Oil, acted as the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee for President George W. Bush in 2002, led the Republican National Committee's Victory Fund for President George W. Bush and personally donated $20,000 to the Committee. * Mr. Hunt contributed $100,000 toward inaugural festivities for President George W. Bush in 2001, while Hunt Consolidated contributed $250,000 toward the 2005 Bush presidential inaugural gala. * Mr. Hunt has also given generously toward construction of the Bush library by securing $35 million in additional property for the endeavor. * President George W. Bush has twice appointed Mr. Hunt to a seat on the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which is said to have access to intelligence that experts acknowledge is advantageous to the international energy interest of the Hunt Oil Company.
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POPSCartman, Kenny and Kyle Grow Into Media Giants South Park has grown from a crudely animated "adult" cartoon into a powerhouse of marketing potential. It is hard to believe that this show will be starting its 12th season in October. I am a big fan of this show and I am happy to see that such anarchic and subversive humour is being accepted by mainstream audiences. It shows that there are a good number of thinking people out there in TV land.
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POPSInternet Pornography Stats Interesting, i thought for sure Russia or some other nation would be way up there for % of porn sites. Where's Canada?? *sigh* PS: NOT marked "M" because there's no nudity or profanity in this video...
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POPSYouTube for Adrenaline Junkies Video Site Beyond video, there’s also blogging, a network of friends, photo sharing, favorites, forums, playlists and the ability to list your favorite skiing, snowboarding and surf gear (a potential revenue opportunity).
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