My Loony Bun Is Fine Benny Lava

(Thanks, Ben!)

Healthcare in the U.S.

(Graph from naked capitalism.)

So, if our money isn't lengthening our lives, where's it going?

I recently had bunion surgery and my doctor prescribed a knee-walker to help me get around during the recovery. The manufacturer told me they could ship one for ca. $250 and get it to me in 3 days.

My insurer told me it would be covered only if I got it through an "in-network provider."

Now, you might think the point of dealing with "in-network providers" would be that the insurer could negotiate cheaper prices; but apparently, no.

Out of a list of at least a dozen supposed in-network providers, it turned out only one could actually provide the item -- and it would take at least two weeks, partly because special authorization was required from the insurer, because this in-network provider's price to procure the item was over $1,000.

I called the appeals people at the insurer and said hey, we can get it quicker from the manufacturer and you'll save over $700.

The insurer could not have been less interested.

When the knee-walker finally arrived, it was an inferior model from a different manufacturer.

I have to at least ask whether the insurer and its in-network provider weren't splitting the mark-up at my employer's and ultimately all of our expense (not to mention the delay and other inconvenience).

The California Nurses Association (CNA)/National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) is collecting healthcare horror stories as part of their campaign in support of publicly-funded healthcare, which they call "CheneyCare," for all of us. You can tell your own story and sign their petition here.


UPDATE: Eliz. Edwards on TDS tonite (May 20, '09) said, out of every $700 paid for to United Healthcare, $1 was paid to the CEO.

Audio Tour for the Lawrence Weiner Retrospective

From an interview of Lawrence Weiner at artkrush, re- the retrospective of his work now on view at the Whitney:

"AK: The audio tour for the retrospective . . . doesn't provide the usual explanations of the works in the show — rather, it provides a soundtrack for viewing it. What is this audio compilation, and what do you hope it conveys to viewers?

"LW: IT IS A REMIX OF RECORDINGS THAT I HAVE MADE WITH MUSICIANS OVER TIME — AN AMBIENT SOUNDTRACK."

The show at the Whitney runs through February 10, then opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles on April 13.

Finally Saw Grizzly Man

(here). Woke at 4 a.m.: people parts in bears; what a way to go. I wonder if Timmy had time to grow up during those last, agonizing seconds.

One of the joys and hazards of being human is that we can entertain our own dam' selves. We can have sex with ourselves; we can party by ourselves; we can project whole populations for ourselves to "interact" with; etc.

Leading Surveillance Societies

Bigger image and more info here.

Boone Needs to Meet . . .

You know, Boone.

(Thanks, Craig!)

True Love

This guy customized this AR-15 assault rifle for his wife.

(Thanks Ben, but you're shopping for me in the wrong places.)

UPDATE Re- Bringing the Internet to Heel

As my three readers know, I'm very concerned that, at least partly through the instigation of right-wing authoritarians but also partly through the more or less semi-witless facilitation by the rest of us, the internet is rapidly being transformed into a potential top-down surveillance and mind-control system easily manipulated by gummints and corps (for more details, see my previous posts on the subject, most recently here).

I never thought I'd see Microsoft as on my side, but in its current battles with Google, that's how it's shaping up. Google is actively promoting its "cloud" model of the internet, in which not only software but most of your data live on the 'net -- i.e., in hardware owned and controlled by others -- while Microsoft continues to favor a distributed model in which most of your software and data live in your PC.

Details at Google Watch and The New York Times, among other places.

Personally, I'm hanging on to my hardware and (better late than never) minimizing the personal info I put on the 'net.

(See my prior post for background.)