So, a couple days ago we detailed the legitimacy and coherence of the Supreme Court ruling on the Medicaid expansion portion of the Affordable Care Act, and decided that the ruling was probably just a bit intellectually dishonest and politically motivated. If you are interested in that aspect of the decision, click on through and give it a read. Today, however, we move on to the practical effects of the decision.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Photo of the Day
Regular readers of this blog (well, one irregular reader) should recognize the following view of the North Table Mountain and the Coors Brewery from a certain patch of grass in Golden, CO:
Ah, Golden.
Ah, Golden.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
The 80% and the 5%
I was on my way to Denver yesterday on a Frontier Airlines flight, and had an interesting set of experiences that I felt should go up on the blog. You be the judge.
Right as the crew was boarding the plane, a woman stopped to speak with the man who was scanning the boarding passes. She was in the first 20% or so of the line, and her discussion put the boarding on hold. In her defense, I couldn't tell what they were discussing, but the body language between the two of them (and the annoyance of her teenage son, who kept trying to push her through the gate door) seemed to indicate that it was a matter of satisfying her curiosity on some subject, and not the sort of thing that should cause a boarding delay for the rest of the passengers.
Later in the flight, the same woman wanted to have water as her complimentary beverage, but wanted the water poured into her plastic cup, and not in the one provided by the airlines. I am not sure why this was an issue (concern about contamination from her cup to the collective bottle perhaps?), but the flight attendant was hesitant. The woman was unrelenting, and after holding up the beverage cart for a little while, the crew member shrugged and poured the water into her cup.
Finally, immediately after the pilot announced final descent and turned the seat-belt light on, the same woman unbuckled, left her seat, and traveled to the lavatory, where she remained for long enough to prompt the crew to begin knocking and asking her to return to her seat. When they were finally able to extract her (a minute or so after the first attempt), she returned to her seat making a face and a mock knocking gesture to her husband, in full view of the crew.
This woman is a useful example of my theory that about 80% of the problems in the world are caused by perhaps 5% of people, those who are completely incapable of imagining a world outside their own desires and intentions. This woman was the cause of no less than three incidents on a single flight, and while none of them were particularly calamitous or dilatory, I think that is probably more a function of the fact that her desires weren't particularly calamitous or dilatory, and not that she was holding others in any sort of regard.
Anybody have any idea where these people come from?
Right as the crew was boarding the plane, a woman stopped to speak with the man who was scanning the boarding passes. She was in the first 20% or so of the line, and her discussion put the boarding on hold. In her defense, I couldn't tell what they were discussing, but the body language between the two of them (and the annoyance of her teenage son, who kept trying to push her through the gate door) seemed to indicate that it was a matter of satisfying her curiosity on some subject, and not the sort of thing that should cause a boarding delay for the rest of the passengers.
Later in the flight, the same woman wanted to have water as her complimentary beverage, but wanted the water poured into her plastic cup, and not in the one provided by the airlines. I am not sure why this was an issue (concern about contamination from her cup to the collective bottle perhaps?), but the flight attendant was hesitant. The woman was unrelenting, and after holding up the beverage cart for a little while, the crew member shrugged and poured the water into her cup.
Finally, immediately after the pilot announced final descent and turned the seat-belt light on, the same woman unbuckled, left her seat, and traveled to the lavatory, where she remained for long enough to prompt the crew to begin knocking and asking her to return to her seat. When they were finally able to extract her (a minute or so after the first attempt), she returned to her seat making a face and a mock knocking gesture to her husband, in full view of the crew.
This woman is a useful example of my theory that about 80% of the problems in the world are caused by perhaps 5% of people, those who are completely incapable of imagining a world outside their own desires and intentions. This woman was the cause of no less than three incidents on a single flight, and while none of them were particularly calamitous or dilatory, I think that is probably more a function of the fact that her desires weren't particularly calamitous or dilatory, and not that she was holding others in any sort of regard.
Anybody have any idea where these people come from?
The SCOTUS Medicaid Ruling: Part I
Also known as, "was Chief Justice Robert's opinion consistent with the language and intent of the Social Security Act of 1965, or was he legislating from the bench." Let's start with a basic overview of the Medicaid program, the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion, and then follow-up a bit with the courts ruling on the issue.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
