WASHINGTON — For months, the Obama administration has heralded the low premiums of medical insurance policies on sale in the insurance exchanges created by the new health law. But as consumers dig into the details, they are finding that the deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs are often much higher than what is typical in employer-sponsored health plans.
By Garance Franke-Ruta, TheAtlantic.com, Dec. 4, 2013
There's no heartbreak like the heartbreak of first love, and when it comes to politics, no disappointment more bitter than that of a young person who grows up to realize her one-time idol is all too human.
just puts on a useless dog and pony show every day, riffing off of and babbling general talking points, or what his staff can find in books and on the internet if there are no applicable talking points:
In a surprise move, the Holy See yesterday announced that Pope Francis is to assemble a panel of experts to advise him on the problem of clerical sex abuse. This Vatican Child Protection Commission represents arguably the first concrete proposal to emerge from the so-called “G8” Council of Cardinals who have been meeting with the pope in Rome this week.
By Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa, Reuters, Dec. 5, 2013 (WITH VIDEO)
A suicide bomber and gunmen wearing army uniforms attacked Yemen's defense ministry on Thursday, killing 52 people including foreign medical staff, government sources said, in the country's worst militant assault in 18 months.
By Nima Elbagir, Laura Smith-Spark and Faith Karimi, CNN, Dec. 5, 2013 (WITH VIDEO)
Bossangoa, Central African Republic -- Months after a coup escalated chaos and violence in the Central African Republic, the U.N. Security Council on Thursday unanimously approved the deployment of African and French forces there.
The council also voted to impose an arms embargo on the nation, which is east of Cameroon and north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
States Refuse to Sign Up Enrollees Due to Incomplete Information from HealthCare.gov
By Louise Radnofsky, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4/5, 2013
[....] In all, some 183,396 people who submitted coverage applications through HealthCare.gov were determined to be eligible for Medicaid through Nov. 2, according to data published by the Department of Health and Human Services. Many thousands more are believed to have received similar assessments in the month since then.
Maps of neural circuitry show women's brains are suited to social skills and memory, men's perception and co-ordination
By Ian Sample, science correspondent, The Guardian, 2 Dec. 2013
Scientists have drawn on nearly 1,000 brain scans to confirm what many had surely concluded long ago: that stark differences exist in the wiring of male and female brains.
By Arian Campo-Flores and Conor Dougherty, Wall Street Journal ,Dec. 1, 2013
MIAMI—Cranes are again rising over this city, as the poster child for the real-estate collapse enjoys a new condominium boom fueled by foreign investors looking to park their money in U.S. real estate.
For several years after the housing bubble burst, a glut of towering condo buildings sat largely empty. Condo values plunged nearly 60% from peak to trough, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. Financing for buyers and developers dried up.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to get involved in state efforts to force online retailers such as Amazon.com to collect sales tax from customers even in places where the companies do not have a physical presence.
The issue — ending what for many Americans is tax-free online shopping — is one of the most important in modern retailing. Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses say the online retailers receive an unfair advantage by not collecting sales tax in some areas.
DOHA: Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appealed on Monday to Saudi Arabia to work with Tehran toward achieving regional "stability", as he pressed a tour seeking rapprochement with Gulf Arab states. Zarif arrived in Doha after visits to Kuwait and Oman for meetings aimed at assuring top officials that a deal Iran secured with world powers on its disputed nuclear programme is in their interest.
James Fallon admits he has a lot in common with serial killer Ted Bundy and Columbine assassin Eric Harris. He is aggressive, lacks empathy and is a risk-taker.
By Soumya Karlamangla, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 30, 2013
Prosecutors in Montana are going to the state’s highest court in hopes of securing a longer prison term for a former teacher who was given a month-long sentence for raping a 14-year-old girl.
By Stephen Castle and Steve Erlanger, New York Times, Nov. 30, 2013
LONDON — Eight people were killed when a police helicopter that apparently lost power crashed through the roof of a crowded pub in Glasgow, injuring at least 30 people, police officials said Saturday.
Three people in the helicopter died as did five of those in the wrecked building, where a ska band was performing about 10:30 p.m. Friday when the chopper, carrying two police officers and a civilian, spun down onto the pub, the Clutha [....]
Countries like Italy and Spain are turning away from the world, with grave consequences for the European project.
By Moisés Naím, TheAtlantic.com, Nov. 29, 2013
By Mary Lou Jepsen, New York Times Sunday Review, Nov. 23/24, 2013
In my early 30s, for a few months, I altered my body chemistry and hormones so that I was closer to a man in his early 20s. I was blown away by how dramatically my thoughts changed. I was angry almost all the time, thought about sex constantly, and assumed I was the smartest person in the entire world. Over the years I had met guys rather like this.
Militias in the Central African Republic are slitting children's throats, razing villages and throwing young men to the crocodiles. What needs to happen before the world intervenes?
By David Smith in Bossangoa, The Guardian, 22 Nov. 2013
A massacre of the innocents is taking place in the heart of Africa as the world looks the other way [....]
