Tag Archives: white people

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What’s all this about Obamacare?


Consumers Union, Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

Get yourself ready 

Next week is a pivotal one for our country. Millions of Americans who need health coverage can begin signing up for it through new insurance marketplaces.

The marketplace isn’t like anything you’ve experienced. It’s a one-stop resource where you can easily compare policies and prices, see if you qualify for financial help, and enroll in a plan.

Like anything new in health care, it can be confusing. So Consumer Reports created
HealthLawHelper.org, an online tool to help you understand your options, responsibilities, and steps to take. Just answer a few questions about your family situation, and you’ll Chris Meyer, Vice Presidentreceive personalized information on what to do next.

We’ve identified a glitch with Health Law Helper for people using IE8, so switch browsers if you can. We’re working on it!

Chris Meyer, Consumer Reports

—————————————

Consumer Reports

Navigating Medicare can be confusing, especially if you’re new to the program. Here’s what you need to know.

350,844
 consumer messages sent to the top six hip and knee makers asking that implants be warrantied. Send your own email here.

How will health reform affect you?

We know you’re wondering. And with next Tuesday’s biggest change – the opening of health insurance ‘marketplaces’ – you’ll likely need some help to cut through all the noise and confusion.

Consumer Reports’ new online tool, HealthLawHelper.org, does that. Just answer a few short questions about your family situation – your answers are anonymous – and you will get personalized information on what steps, if any, you may need to take. Even if you have coverage, it’s worth checking out. (You may experience problems with the tool if you use IE8, so try a different browser while we fix the issue).

It’s quick, easy and free. Take two minutes to find out what you need to know about health reform. The results may surprise you!
try this tool

Enough with the defund Obamacare votes! 
Despite taking 42 votes to gut the health law, a group in Congress is still trying to block it, even attempting to hold hostage our nation’s finances. It’s time politicians focus on implementing health reform right, rather than picking it apart before it’s given a chance. Tell Congress to stop obstructing and move forward.

Health reform: What’s real, and what isn’t
Judging from talk radio and Facebook posts, you’d think Obamacare will upend everyone’s health care. That’s not the case. At least 80 percent of people will notice little change because they already have insurance that meets the law. From the mandate to Medicare to who gets what help, get the straight story in our latest Consumer Reports coverage.

Will you be using the new marketplace?
If you’re among those who need coverage, either because your job doesn’t offer it, you’re retired but too young for Medicare, or you simply can’t afford it, we want to hear from you. Tell us about your situation and what you are hoping to find in the insurance marketplace.

Get the biggest bang for your health-care dollar
Consumer Reports has ranked 987 health insurance plans nationwide to help you choose the best one for you and your family. Check out where your plan ranks, or see how the plan you’re considering stacks up.

From the headlines

Average individual policy $328 a month under Obamacare

Progress on our hip and knee warranty campaign

CDC sounds alarm about growing antibiotic-resistance threat

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Setting the Record Straight

Image

Load images to who Obamacare protects.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Think Progress … sad realities


NAVY YARD SHOOTER’S TROUBLED PAST DIDN’T STOP HIM FROM BUYING GUNS

FATALLY SHOT FOR ASKING FOR HELP?

YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK’S FOOD STAMPS VOTE

~ Culture & History

World’s Oldest Shoe Discovered, Dates Back 5,500 Years


world's oldest shoe brown sheep dung lace-up stuffedYou won’t find this style on Zappos! The world’s oldest shoe dates back 5,500 years. Photo: AP Photo/Department of Archaeology University College Cork
Looks like our ancestors had a little trouble watching their step.

Researchers excavating an Armenian cave have discovered the world’s oldest shoe — a cowhide lace-up encased in a pile of sheep dung, The New York Times reports.

(Ew. We suspect even Imelda Marcos might give this one a pass.)

Tanned in oils from a plant or vegetable and bearing leather eyelets for its laces, the right shoe reportedly pre-dates Stonehenge, the Egyptian pyramids and Joan Rivers.

“These were probably quite expensive shoes, made of leather, very high quality,” Gregory Areshian of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, a lead scientist on the project, told the paper.

The shoe is estimated to date back to the Copper Age, around 3653 to 3627 B.C., and would fit a woman (or petite man) with a size 7 foot, according to The New York Times.

Scientists told the source that the shoe appears to have been deliberately preserved, with grass stuffing and yellow clay lining keeping its shape intact. (Nice to know ancient gals were as shoe-obsessed as we are.)

“You can see the imprints of the big toe,” another team leader, Ron Pinhasi of Ireland’s University College Cork, told the paper.

“As the person was wearing and lacing it, some of the eyelets had been torn and repaired.”

The discovery was reportedly made after the National Geographic Society-funded researchers found other artifacts, including horns, pottery, and something doctoral student Diana Zardaryan thought felt like “an ear of a cow.”

“But when I took it out, I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s a shoe,'” she told the paper. “To find a shoe has always been my dream.”

Ah — a woman after our own hearts!

So who was this Copper Age Carrie Bradshaw? We may never know… but it makes for one heck of a good, old-school Cinderella story.

In other shoe news, read about this government-funded “Sexy Heels in the City” college course.

by Erin Donnelly