Another reason to hate our method of paying for medical care:

I have good health insurance and good auto insurance. "Auto insurance and medical care?", you ask. Yes, because in New York State we are required to carry "no-fault" insurance, which means my auto insurance pays for health care needed after an accident.

So, I had an auto accident that has left me with some minor issues; a little trouble walking (sometimes), a little dizziness (sometimes) - nothing major. But - I also have various minor chronic issues.

Here's the problem: I can't talk to my GP about issues related to the auto accident and my chronic issues at the same appointment! The health insurance company won't pay if he makes any notes about the walking or balance issues; the auto company won't pay if he mentions my asthma or thyroid issues.

What does it do to the cost of health care every time someone like me has to make two appointments to handle issues that could and should be handled in one?

"Let them secede" European style?

The Russians are determined to keep their bases in the Crimea. As near as I can figure out, most of the people living in the Crimea are Russian. I don't know if that means a 55/45 split or more like 95/5.

The votes from the Crimea have made it very difficult for Ukraine to form a stable government. Again, it seems that most of the people in the Crimea want to stay close to Moscow.

I don't know the history - I think the current borders of Ukraine are based on a Soviet decision at least as much as any historical factor. The borders in that region have been very fluid for 1000 years.

So - here's my question: Would Ukraine be better off ceding the Crimea to Russia? It would make it easier for the rest of Ukraine to turn to the West.

Please excuse my ignorance on all this - I'm hoping for some info.

Chickens can do magic -

I've been keeping the chicken house closed these days because it's so cold. I go out, change the water, put down feed, collect the eggs, make sure all the birds are happy, then leave. Now, about a week ago we had a thaw and my son let the chickens out all day. He didn't latch the door open, so it closed leaving some birds out in the dark. I collected them and put them into the chicken house. Right after that, we had temperatures close to 0 and enough snow to make the school districts here dismiss early.

So, today I'm taking care of the birds and a rooster starts walking away. I walked up, grabbed him and put him back into the chicken house. I think he saw all the snow and was just as glad to be caught and carried. He was awfully easy to catch. So I close the birds up, head back to the house, and I hear a hen lamenting. I thought it was behind me in the hen house, but I stopped to listen. The noise was in front of me, along the side of my house.

I had to walk through knee deep snow to get there, but I found a Buff Orpington hen sitting under the furnace vent alongside the house. There were no tracks on the snow around her, and my Orpingtons are not good flyers. The nearest I can figure is that that hen was outside during some of the worst winter weather we've had for at least 24 hours, maybe more. She was harder to catch than the rooster, but I grabbed her and carried her back to the coop where she had a drink and sat down to dinner.

Huge California storm wallops water-starved state; more to come

The bigger, badder of two rainstorms that weather forecasters had predicted arrived on schedule late Thursday, drenching a very parched California while causing a slew of hazards along the way.

The system is forecast to hover over California through at least Saturday, dumping several inches in some regions – including Los Angeles – before it leaves. Already, Van Nuys had measured nearly two inches of rain in just six hours Friday, with weather forecasters warning of another wave expected to hit the area in the afternoon.

.....
Experts said the storm looks to be the biggest downpour to hit Los Angeles in at least two years, though it isn't expected to make much of a dent in California’s historic drought. But Bob Benjamin with the National Weather Service said it was "a step in the right direction."


......
The storm is especially concerning for residents in the foothills of Azusa and Glendora, where thousands of residents live in the path of potential mudslides. The southern face of the San Gabriel Mountains were left vulnerable after the Colby fire burned away its vegetation and baked the soil, keeping precious moisture from soaking into the earth.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-rain-storm-flooding-20140228,0,7135383.story#ixzz2ueEiAPMF


Italics mine.

Cross post from the Lounge - Update on the new dog.

She is settling in slowly. I think she is a cross bt a greyhound and a Golden Retriever, if you can imagine such a thing. She's gorgeous, but also very, very old. (14years)

She's still trying to figure things out, and spends her time pacing back and forth in the house. She's secure enough to lie doan and take a nap when she's tired.


There's some occasional minor growling going on. I stop a lot of it by chiding the two dogs I already had. It's the little Spitz who is half the size who causes most of the trouble. If it looks to be escalating (the new dog lifting her lip ) I put her into the crate so all the dogs have a time out.
0

Update on the new dog:

She is settling in slowly. I think she is a cross bt a greyhound and a Golden Retriever, if you can imagine such a thing. She's gorgeous, but also very, very old. (14years)

She's still trying to figure things out, and spends her time pacing back and forth in the house. She's secure enough to lie doan and take a nap when she's tired.


There's some occasional minor growling going on. I stop a lot of it by chiding the two dogs I already had. It's the little Spitz who is half the size who causes most of the trouble. If it looks to be escalating (the new dog lifting her lip ) I put her into the crate so all the dogs have a time out.

Dry Mouth and Biotene: The formulation of some (all?) the Biotene products has been changed recently

and reportedly not for the better. I know the people on one of my Sjogren's web sites are up in arms, and I found a site for survivors of oral cancers where people were making the same comments. There is an active move to get people to complain to the company.

Cuomo in 2016? I've never been a Cuomo fan, but after hearing this I'm

ready to take another look:

N.Y. Becomes Largest Prison System To Curb Solitary Confinement

"In fact, Cuomo has also been pushing an aggressive prison reform agenda, including a call for more education and inmate re-entry programs."

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/23/281373188/n-y-becomes-largest-prison-system-to-curb-solitary-confinement

Cuomo has closed 13 prisons in NYS.

The SI Swimsuit issue and Title 9 - I was wondering why the

SI swimsuit issue hit such a raw nerve compared to every cover of Cosmopolitan and the like. Certainly, one can make the argument that every page of Vogue, whether it be an ad or article, is devoted to objectifying women. I think the SI swimsuit issue hits a nerve because the implied message is "sports are for boys, not girls". The swimsuit issue dates back to 1964, Title 9 to 1972.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated_Swimsuit_Issue

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IX

What would be the reaction if SI added some male models to the issue?

Silent thread for Salmon Enchanted Evenings' computer.