Good morning —
For the RTP-ers in the readership, let’s meet at Ponysaurus Brewing Company for beer and bites this Wednesday at 5:30. I will have green balloons on the back of my chair.
219 HOOD STREET, DURHAM, NC 27701
Dave
by David Anderson| 23 Comments
This post is in: Meetups and social events
Good morning —
For the RTP-ers in the readership, let’s meet at Ponysaurus Brewing Company for beer and bites this Wednesday at 5:30. I will have green balloons on the back of my chair.
219 HOOD STREET, DURHAM, NC 27701
Dave
by David Anderson| 17 Comments
This post is in: Anderson On Health Insurance
The most important health policy law that is not the Social Security Act or its amendments is one that operates in the background. The 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act is the 800 pound gorilla that controls employer plans that are organized on a self-payment basis. Self-insured plans cover roughly 60% of all people who get their insurance via work. ERISA has a legal concept of pre-emption where ERISA overrules all state laws regarding regulation on self-insured employer plans. This ranges from benefit requirements to whether or not a self-insured plan has to send a claims file to a state all-payer claims database.
It is the 800 pound gorilla that lurks in the back ground ready to smash barrels and throw bananas at state based reforms.
Jon Walker at Shadowproof has a series of posts that is trying to lay out a path to single payer. He is grappling with complexity and faces the scope of the problem that ERISA has:
State-based health care reform would be fairly easy if the state could simply require every employer to buy their employees the state-based, Medicare-like insurance policy or pay a large tax.
Back in 1974, Hawaii adopted a strong employer mandate law that required good private coverage before Congress adopted ERISA so it is exempt from the federal law. The Hawaii plan was fairly straightforward and worked well. ERISA prevents anything like that from happening now.
Unable to directly regulate most employer-sponsored health plans, state based reform plans tie themselves in knots trying to work around it. Most state single-player plans would indirectly but strongly encourage companies to drop insurance benefits and increase wages to make up for it.
ERISA is a straitjacket on state level reforms. Jon looks at options that are viable work-arounds ranging from a comprehensive national ERISA waiver system to incremental improvements.
ERISA can also be used as a measure of how big of a change a proposal wants to be. If there are two reasonably well thought out proposals on the table and one opens up ERISA and one does not, the proposal that touches ERISA is far more likely to be a big system transformation bill. The bill that does not touch ERISA is more likely to be an incrementalist bill.
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 68 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.
For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
So today’s an eclipse – groovy! Make sure to protect your eyes and enjoy this cool thing. In this age of omnipresent cameras and distribution tech, I expect lots of aamzing videos of animals and plants reacting to the eclipse. I can’t wait!
So, in honor of the great Jack Horkheimer, I encourage you to “keep…looking up!” And to encourage this, let’s take a different look up at the stats and things celestial.
Oh, and mom’s back home, recovering from the aborted surgery (which turned into an old-school biopsy, in effect) and beginning the Great Fight. Fuck cancer, fuck it all to hell.
Do keep Immanetize and Impkid in your thoughts and prayers as they piece together a new life.
Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.
Being that Joshua Tree is a bit of a drive(almost 200 miles to the shooting locations), I decided to see if there was a location that was a bit closer to the cave that would provide enough darkness to photograph the Milky Way. So after consulting the DarkSkyFinder.com light pollution map, I settled on a location about 90 miles northwest(as the crow flies) of Downtown Los Angeles in Lockwood Valley at the foot of Mt. Pinos. I was somewhat familiar with the area since the Boy Scout Camp(Camp Three Falls) is in the valley and I ended up setting up my gear on the Boy Scout Camp Road. Also since my last trip to Joshua Tree, I’d purchased a “Red Intensifier” filter, which is said to reduce some of the yellow cast you see from light pollution. The first 5 pictures are from this shooting session. The last two pictures are from Joshua Tree since I noticed something in one of the picture that I thought was interesting and I acquired some new software to do panorama stitching that made some panorama shots that I’d take usable.
The Milky Way as viewed with the naked eye.
Taken on 2017-08-12
Lockwood Valley, California
This is pretty much what the Milky Way looks like when you just look up at the sky. Since the camera picks up more than your eye can see, I’ve had to do a bit of work to remove color and contrast. If I was here in Glendale, I’d probably think it was a cloud lit up by the lights of the city.
The Milky Way just after sunset.
Taken on 2017-08-12
Lockwood Valley, California
This was my first capture after the sun had set and it was dark enough to visually see the Milky Way. At the left side of the picture you can see the yellow glow from the lights in LA(Santa Clarita being about 35 miles away). I had forgotten that I’d brought the “Red Intensifier” filter, so I hadn’t put it on the camera. This shot is a composite of a shot taken at 20 seconds for the sky and a shot with an exposure of 60 seconds for the foreground. I liked how the bushes in the foreground look white, almost look like the shot was taken in IR.
Milky Way with some light painting.
Taken on 2017-08-12
Lockwood Valley, California
This shot was taken about 15 minutes after the shot above, after I’d rummaged thought my camera bag and found my “Red Intensifier” filter and put it on the camera. I think it really does reduce the amount of light pollution. Again the shot is a composite of a 20 second background and a 60 second foreground. I also added some light painting to light up the bushes in the immediate foreground. One of the nice things about shooting alone is that you can do light painting and not worry about screwing up somebody else’s picture. On the other hand, you do hear strange noises in the darkness along with the familiar sound of coyotes howling.
Milky Way in portrait
Taken on 2017-08-12
Lockwood Valley, California
Pretty much the same shot as above but different orientation and you can see a bit more of the foreground. Since the orientation of the shot cuts off the view to the southeast you don’t see the light pollution from LA. The light you see at the horizon is from the cities in the valleys towards the coast(Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Moorpark). Again the “Red Intensifier” filter was used with this shot.
Fisheye!
Taken on 2017-08-12
Lockwood Valley, California
I can’t post a set of pics without one with my favorite lens, my 10mm fisheye. It’s not a fast lens and I can’t use any filters on it, but I love, love my fisheye. You can see the lights of LA in the center and to the left you can see some lights from a gravel extraction operation as well as light trails from cars on the main road.
A processing note: When I first processed this photo, I went with a more contrasty look and a bluer sky. I decided to back it off a bit just before I wrote this post.
Milky Way Panorama.
Taken on 2017-07-22
Joshua Tree National Park, California
This a panorama composed from 16 shots. I just got the panorama stitching software(ptGui) last week, so this is really a first draft and there are some issues(especially at the top of the picture).
Andromeda!
Taken on 2017-07-22
Joshua Tree National Park, California
This is a zoomed in (1:1) detail of one of the source photos used for the panorama in the shot above. The Milky Way is in the upper left hand side of the shot. I’d like to thank valued commenter and perennial Presidential candidate (don’t call me Harold Stassen) Baud for inspiring me to take another look at my photos to see if I’d captured the Andromeda Galaxy.
Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
This post is in: Because of wow., Excellent Links, Open Threads, Science & Technology, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All
GOATALITY is coming. We're gonna stream from a fainting goat farm during eclipse — will they faint during totality? https://t.co/Eq6tqYejim pic.twitter.com/6lQAdhp8M6
— T.J. Ortenzi (@tjortenzi) August 18, 2017
Apart from the Big Solar Event, what’s on the agenda as we start the new week?
***********
I enjoyed this whole Washington Post story, “For one day, a fractured country will be united by sun, moon and history”… but especially the bit about a very American ‘monument’:
… On the high plains of northwest Nebraska, north of Alliance, where Army pilots trained in World War II, a mysterious circle of gray objects rises from the flat expanse of farmland.
The objects closely resemble Britain’s 4,000-year-old Stonehenge, a mystical place of pilgrimage for neo-druids, solstice watchers, and legions of tourists.
But this monument is made of 39 junked cars.
It’s Carhenge, perhaps the most cosmic spot in the country to watch the eclipse. And it has an impressive two minutes and 28 seconds of totality.
Carhenge was assembled in 1987 by Jim Reinders, the son of a Nebraska tenant farmer, to honor his late father, Herman.
Reinders, 89, a retired oil industry engineer now living in Texas, resided in London in the 1970s and was fascinated by Stonehenge.
After his father died, he came up with the idea of Carhenge, and in June 1987, members of his family convened on land he had inherited from his father.
“With about 30 of us working at it, why, in one week later, we had Carhenge up and running,” he said…
Construction went well, except when an AMC Gremlin that was poorly welded in place came down in a storm. It was put back with stronger welds, he said.
Reinders plans to be at Carhenge on Monday, reportedly along with Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) and thousands of others…
Monday Morning Open Thread: GOATALITY! (Also: I Hope We See Pics from Carhenge)Post + Comments (104)
This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, Decline and Fall
This week's @theipaper cartoon… pic.twitter.com/axblJ6wqK1
— Ben Jennings (@BJennings90) August 18, 2017
Trump’s Approval Rating Stands Below 40% in Three Key Midwest States (@mmurraypolitics @chucktodd) details: https://t.co/uI8KZHGbFX pic.twitter.com/iHc1d69l77
— OpinionToday.com (@OpinionToday) August 20, 2017
The way Donald Trump is handling his job as president:
Approve 36%
Disapprove 58%
(Gallup tracking, 8/17-19)
trend: https://t.co/DEIJ0t0cbp— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) August 21, 2017
WISCONSIN
Overall impression of Donald Trump:
Favorable 31%
Unfavorable 61%
(NBC News/Marist Poll, 8/13-17)— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) August 20, 2017
WISCONSIN
Overall impression of Barack Obama:
Favorable 61%
Unfavorable 33%
(NBC News/Marist Poll, 8/13-17)— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) August 20, 2017
‘Course, some people totally approve of Trump’s latest stunts…
Wow.
GOP strategist says that after Trump's weak condemnation of white supremacy, his support among base went UP:https://t.co/1mbsEaKrxc pic.twitter.com/PeGshL0pVS
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) August 20, 2017
According to other polls, his base is also shrinking. https://t.co/nWwoovReVG
— Apocalyptica (@ApocalypticaNow) August 20, 2017
Just don’t call them Deplorables.
I watch #GoT and think, "Why is everyone acting so stupidly?" Then I watch the Trump administration act just as stupidly, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) August 21, 2017
Dark Night of the Soul Open Thread: <em>Now</em> They Figure It Out…Post + Comments (41)
by Adam L Silverman| 130 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Military, Open Threads, Silverman on Security
BREAKING: US Navy destroyer and merchant ship collide in waters east of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca. https://t.co/YHaftVR3v8
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 21, 2017
SINGAPORE (AP) — A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer collided with a tanker early Monday in waters east of Singapore and the Strait of Malacca, and at least 10 sailors are missing.
The Navy said five others were hurt.
The USS John S. McCain sustained damage on its port side aft, or left rear, from the collision with the Alnic MC that happened at 5:24 a.m., the Navy’s 7th Fleet said. It wasn’t immediately clear if the oil and chemical tanker sustained damage or casualties in the collision.
The Navy said Osprey aircraft and Seahawk helicopters from the USS America were assisting. It also said tugboats and Singaporean naval and coast guard vessels were in the area to render assistance.
Malaysia’s navy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin tweeted that two ships as well as aircraft from its navy and air force have been deployed to help look for the missing U.S. sailors.
I will simply note that the President has neither made a public statement, nor issued a tweet in regard to any US service members death since his remarks about Chief Petty Officer Owens death in Yemen at the State of the Union. He did, however, say this earlier this evening:
In response to my question about the USS John S. McCain collision @POTUS at @WhiteHouse South Portico replies “that’s too bad.” pic.twitter.com/G6CK0E8y8Y
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 21, 2017
Updated at 11:00 PM EDT
There is already speculation bouncing around social media that this second collision of an Arleigh Burke class destroyer within two months may be an act of cyber warfare. And, as a result, we are facing a new and very dangerous threat. It was recently reported that the Russians have developed a way to spoof a ship’s GPS.
Reports of satellite navigation problems in the Black Sea suggest that Russia may be testing a new system for spoofing GPS, New Scientist has learned. This could be the first hint of a new form of electronic warfare available to everyone from rogue nation states to petty criminals.
On 22 June, the US Maritime Administration filed a seemingly bland incident report. The master of a ship off the Russian port of Novorossiysk had discovered his GPS put him in the wrong spot – more than 32 kilometres inland, at Gelendzhik Airport.
After checking the navigation equipment was working properly, the captain contacted other nearby ships. Their AIS traces – signals from the automatic identification system used to track vessels – placed them all at the same airport. At least 20 ships were affected.
While the incident is not yet confirmed, experts think this is the first documented use of GPS misdirection – a spoofing attack that has long been warned of but never been seen in the wild.
Until now, the biggest worry for GPS has been it can be jammed by masking the GPS satellite signal with noise. While this can cause chaos, it is also easy to detect. GPS receivers sound an alarm when they lose the signal due to jamming. Spoofing is more insidious: a false signal from a ground station simply confuses a satellite receiver. “Jamming just causes the receiver to die, spoofing causes the receiver to lie,” says consultant David Last, former president of the UK’s Royal Institute of Navigation.
Much more at the link.
Updated at 11:24 PM EDT
The President has now issued an appropriate response to tonight’s maritime collision involving the USS John S. McCain.
Thoughts & prayers are w/ our @USNavy sailors aboard the #USSJohnSMcCain where search & rescue efforts are underway. https://t.co/DQU0zTRXNU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2017
by Adam L Silverman| 56 Comments
This post is in: Cat Blogging, Faunasphere, Open Threads
Mom’s here! Mom’s here! Mom’s here! Mom’s here. Maria you’re mauling her, if you eat her face she won’t come and visit again…
Hat tip to the The Jester:
#OffTopicSun Lady aquired 2 lion cubs (somehow) authorities relocated them to zoo. SEVEN yrs later she visited them. https://t.co/xLTrqDcBvV
— JΞSŦΞR ✪ ΔCŦUΔL³³º¹ (@th3j35t3r) August 20, 2017
Sunday Evening Open Thread: Happy ReunionsPost + Comments (56)