March 3, 2023

They could lose the house -- to Medicaid

Found this on NPR - This may have been discussed here before but for those who missed it, like me :

PERRY, Iowa — Fran Ruhl's family received a startling letter from the Iowa Department of Human Services four weeks after she died in January 2022.

"Dear FAMILY OF FRANCES RUHL," the letter begins. "We have been informed of the death of the above person, and we wish to express our sincere condolences."

The letter gets right to the point: Iowa's Medicaid program had spent $226,611.35 for Ruhl's health care, and the government was entitled to recoup that money from her estate, including nearly any assets she owned or had a share in. If a spouse or disabled child survived Ruhl, the collection could be delayed until after their death, but the money would still be owed.

The notice said the family had 30 days to respond.

"I said, 'What is this letter for? What is this?'" says Ruhl's daughter, Jen Coghlan.

It seemed bogus, but it was real. Federal law requires all states to have "estate recovery programs," which seek reimbursements for spending under Medicaid, the joint federal and state health insurance program mainly for people with low incomes or disabilities. The recovery efforts collect more than $700 million a year, according to a 2021 report from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, or MACPAC, an agency that advises Congress.

Henry Ruhl of Perry, Iowa, lost his wife, Fran, in January 2022. A few weeks after her death, he was startled by a notice saying her estate owed a huge bill to Iowa's Medicaid program for her dementia care.
KC McGinnis for Kaiser Health News

States have leeway to decide whom to bill and what type of assets to target. Some states collect very little. For example, Hawaii's Medicaid estate recovery program collected just $31,000 in 2019, according to the federal report.

Iowa, whose population is about twice Hawaii's, recovered more than $26 million that year, the report says.

Iowa uses a private contractor to recoup money spent on Medicaid coverage for any participant who was 55 or older or was a resident of a long-term care facility when they died. Even if an Iowan used few health services, the government can bill their estate for what Medicaid spent on premiums for coverage from private insurers known as managed-care organizations.

the rest is at:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/01/1159490515/they-could-lose-the-house-to-medicaid

March 2, 2023

Recent heavy snow is crucial to the Colorado River but it's not a drought ender

From NPR:

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Rain in California and deep snow in the Rocky Mountains have brought temporary relief to drought-stricken states in the West. But water managers say the long-term water supply picture remains bleak.

California has been hit by a series of storms in recent weeks that's caused at least 20 deaths and lots of damage. But the wet weather out West is also responsible for a deep snowpack in the Rocky Mountains, which might be good for the Colorado River because the snow could boost depleted reservoirs. The thing is, it won't be enough to undo the impacts of a long-running drought. From member station KUNC, Alex Hager reports.

ALEX HAGER, BYLINE: The snow is snowing, the wind is blowing, and high in the mountains of Colorado, the ski slopes are getting busy.

BILL PHILLIPS: To be schmaltzy, it's heavenly. It's a heavenly day of skiing.

HAGER: Bill Phillips stands at the top of a lift at Snowmass Ski Area near Aspen, where the flakes are piling up.

PHILLIPS: It's a fabulous year. And we've had regular snow. It's not just huge dumps, but regular, really nice, powder, fluffy snow to ski in.

HAGER: All of that powder is crucial for the Colorado River. Two-thirds of its water starts as snow in Colorado. This year, with totals well above average, spring snowmelt could help refill lakes Powell and Mead, the nation's largest reservoirs.

But Brad Udall, a climate researcher at Colorado State University, cautions against getting too excited.

BRAD UDALL: Everybody is so eager to make an early call on this. And invariably, you'll get caught with your pants down if you think you know what's going to happen.

HAGER: The Colorado River Basin has experienced more than two decades of megadrought. Udall says climate change is making this whole region drier. And even with snow totals at 130% of average, it would take more than one year of deep powder to make a real dent.

UDALL: We would need five or six years at 150% snowpack to refill these reservoirs, and that is extremely unlikely.

HAGER: Udall says warmer temperatures have already cut into the amount of snow that melts into the Colorado River. Since 1970, temperatures in the region have gone up by 3 degrees Fahrenheit. And on top of that, abnormally dry soil soaks up water before it can reach the places where people divert and collect it.

UDALL: I mean, we need to continue to plan for the worst year. That's what we've seen the last 23 years. That's what these warming temperatures continue to tell us. We have to plan for the worst.

HAGER: But planning has gotten a lot harder lately. Cynthia Campbell knows this firsthand. She's a water management adviser with the city of Phoenix. The fifth largest city in the country gets more than a third of its water from the Colorado River. Lately, she's been keeping closer track of the high-altitude snow.

CYNTHIA CAMPBELL: Our worst-case scenario, from our perspective, is that we have to be in the habit of annually looking to the mountains to see, what is the precipitation?

HAGER: Campbell says reservoirs provide a buffer against the fluctuation of dry years and wet years. But with those reserves shrinking, cities around the Southwest can only plan a year at a time.

CAMPBELL: That's just not enough time to make changes that you would have to make. But that is where we are. And so in some ways we're living - is it the worst nightmare? Might be.

more at:

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/19/1149924283/recent-heavy-snow-is-crucial-to-the-colorado-river-but-its-not-a-drought-ender

March 1, 2023

The Twitter Paradox

Op in USA Today about Twitter by Mike Freeman:

During the early days of Twitter, after being called the N-word about a dozen times in the span of a few hours, I decided to leave the platform. I can’t remember why I was called so many racial slurs in such a short period – day that ended in ‘Y’ perhaps? But it had happened many times before. This was the Wild West days of Twitter when there were fewer protections, and many women and people of color were targets.

So I left. A short time later, a friend of mine, who is also Black and had endured similar hatred on the platform, and had also stopped using it, told me she had returned, and it was safer (I remember thinking her description sounded so dramatic). I came back, too, and Twitter was much better, and has been for years.

Then Elon Musk bought it. What’s happened since then is the site has changed, for the worse, so fast that at times I can’t believe it. Nothing exemplifies that decline more than the increase in racism on it. Researchers found that the use of the N-word increased 500 percent 12 hours after Musk purchased the platform. There were also dramatic increases in anti-gay, antisemitic and anti-trans language.

When Musk took over, as the Washington Post and other news organizations note, it was seen as a pivotal moment for bigots. A wide range of anonymous accounts flooded Twitter after Musk started running it.

"Elon now controls twitter. Unleash the racial slurs. K---S and N-----S," read one account, using the slurs for Jews and Blacks, according to the Post.

"I can freely express how much I hate n-----s…now, thank you elon," read another account. It has only gotten worse since then.

I don’t know if Musk is a white supremacist, but the white supremacists think Musk is a white supremacist.

More at:

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/mike-freeman/2023/03/01/twitter-elon-musk-gives-bigots-platform-hate-speech-racism/11365275002/

February 25, 2023

DeSantis's office says he will boycott NBC, MSNBC over Andrea Mitchell question on Black history

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will boycott media appearances on NBC News and MSNBC shows, according to his press team, until one of the network’s star reporters apologizes for a question she posed about the governor’s education policies.

“There will be no consideration of anything related to NBC Universal or its affiliates until and at least Andrea Mitchell corrects the blatant lie she made about the governor,” DeSantis’s press secretary, Bryan Griffin, said in an email to the network that he posted on Twitter.

The “lie” that the DeSantis camp is protesting is a question Mitchell put to Vice President Harris last week, in which she asked: “What does Governor Ron DeSantis not know about Black history and the Black experience when he says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren?”

Mitchell later said her questioning was “imprecise” but did not explicitly apologize. The Hill has reached out to NBC for further comment.

More at:

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3871445-desantiss-office-says-he-will-boycott-nbc-msnbc-over-andrea-mitchell-question-on-black-history/

If only we could get all the major networks to ignore that asshole.

February 20, 2023

Headline: Nikki Haley on 2024 White House campaign: 'Why not me?'

Maybe because you're a lying sack of hypocrisy? I won't link to the stupid article since it's worthless.

February 19, 2023

Everyone's for sale - especially some golfers

Paulina Gretzky explains Dustin Johnson's decision to join LIV Golf

Dustin Johnson generated headlines when he decided to join LIV Golf last year. Fans were left questioning the top athlete.
Why would one of the world’s best golfers leave the PGA Tour?
Johnson, 38, has repeatedly stated that his decision was in his family’s best interest. He is married to Paulina Gretzky, daughter of NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, and the couple have two children.
In the Netflix series "Full Swing," Paulina Gretzky shed light on Johnson’s career-altering move.

"I don’t think Dustin would ever make bad choice for his children and people have to understand at the end of the day, that’s who he chose this for," Gretzky said via the New York Post. "Of course, I get what everyone’s saying, but my dad being a hockey player [NHL Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky] — I’m sure as a kid, there were times when I’m like like, ‘Why does my dad have to play on my birthday?’ This is about Dustin and the kids and me and taking care of us and being there with us."
Dustin Johnson watches his ball after hitting a tee shot on the 16th during the second round of the LIV Golf tournament at The International.
Johnson left PGA Tour in 2022

Johnson received a four-year deal worth reportedly $125 million from LIV Golf. According to Palm Beach Post reporter Tom D’Angelo, Johnson had made around $75 million in 15 years on the PGA Tour prior to defecting.

"I’ve had a wonderful career on the PGA Tour and I’m very proud of it, and always will be," Johnson said during the show. "Obviously now I’ve taken kinda of a different step in my life and career."

However, the decision hasn’t come without backlash.
What do other golfers say about LIV?

Several golfers have been outspoken about the LIV Golf Series. Rory McIlroy has been vocal regarding LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman. McIlroy stated that Norman "needs to go" amid the controversy between sides.

Well Paulina, did you tell your kids that Daddy is now working for a regime of oil slick royalty with one of the worst human rights records in history? Do you have a daughter? Would you like her to grow up under the regime of those same people paying your husband's check? But who cares, it's someone else, right?


more at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2023/02/18/paulina-gretzky-explains-dustin-johnsons-decision-join-liv-golf/11290460002/

February 16, 2023

DeSantis Now Says Teachers Are Shelving Books to Make Him Look Bad - Daily Beast

They're manufacturing that to try to create a narrative,” he said during a press conference Tuesday. DeSantis was backed by Florida’s Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, who called the controversial rules that have forced costly reviews and book removals “fake news.”

“Florida does not ban books, and this particular book on baseball legend Roberto Clemente is currently on school bookshelves across the state!” Diaz tweeted.

However, a spokesperson for the school district pointed out that Clemente’s book is one of 1.6 million titles under review following the state’s restrictive new laws, which have impacted teachers’ ability to teach about topics including race, gender and sexuality in Florida.

more:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ron-desantis-now-vindictive-teachers-are-shelving-books-to-make-me-look-bad?source=articles&via=rss

Now he's backtracking because he's getting shit from everywhere. Take it to your weird Christo-fascists in Fla Ron - normal people know what you are.

February 15, 2023

Nikki Haley launches GOP campaign by insulting Americans age 75 and over

Watch out, mid-to-upper septuagenarians. Newly minted GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has questions about your mental acuity!

The South Carolina governor and former U.N. ambassador formally launched her campaign Wednesday with, among other things, a call for “mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”

That line was surely aimed at pleasing Republicans who’ve convinced themselves that 80-year-old President Joe Biden is senile (while also being a devious criminal and an all-powerful leftist singlehandedly transforming America into a socialist hellscape). But it was also a shot at 76-year-old former President Donald Trump, also a candidate, and at a sizable swath of the GOP’s most reliable base of voters.

More stupidity at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2023/02/15/nikki-haley-campaign-age-donald-trump-joe-biden-republican-speech/11264673002


**I think in the GOP they should start testing anyone between the age of 16 and 50 - that's where most of the really weird crazies exist in their party.

February 14, 2023

Gun rights, TikTok, China: George Santos says 'I'm not leaving.' Here's what he's cosponsoring

Source: USAToday

WASHINGTON – A lack of committee assignments, an ethics complaint, and calls for his ouster have not stopped George Santos from cosponsoring legislation.

The New York Republican, facing mounting criticism and calls to resign from his GOP colleagues for fabricating his resume and lying about his background, has joined with his colleagues to cosponsor 16 bills so far this Congress.

On Tuesday, Santos doubled down on his refusal to leave Congress: "Let me be very clear, I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down," he wrote on Twitter.

The measures include legislation that addresses U.S. relations with China, expanding gun rights, banning TikTok on college campuses, and minting coins for working dogs.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/14/george-santos-cosponsor-legislation-bills/11248833002/

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There has to be a way for constituents to remove an awful person like this.