Blue Shield California increasing insurance rates 59%

Blue Shield of California insures hundreds of thousand customers. In Oct, the insurer announced three gradual rate increases that add up to 59 %. The state of California is not sure they believe Blue Shield, who claims that an auditor found the boost in expense "reasonable."

California increase in rate

An announcement was made by Blue Shield of California in October 2010. It said insurance costs would be going up. The health care cost increase is what caused these increases, the insurer said. The insurer also says that more people are dropping health insurance, so prices need to be increased. On October 1, the first increase hit with two more, on January 1 and March 1, to come. For more than 100,000 customers, these three increases added up to a 59 percent increase in premiums.

Called a ‘reasonable’ increase happening

After the State of California and ratepayers raised severe concerns about the rate increases, Blue Shield of California employed an auditor. The state auditors and general public were able to see this report recently. Because of the increase of health care costs, in California especially, the audit states the 59 percent increase is "reasonable." About 80 percent of premiums have to be spent on health care for the customer which the health insurer is meeting according to the auditor. Information that the state auditors wanted wasn’t included in the audit though.

No chance of stopping the change

The insurance rate changes are reviewed and approved by the State of California. There isn’t anything regulators can do though. The state approval doesn’t really matter though. The rates can stick anyway. There is not a lot of motive to get the insurance increases changed. This is why the legislature for an emergency block of the increases probably will not occur. Customers are upset due to the health insurance bill. The rates have gone up, in part, because of this bill. Blue Shield of California explained that the reason for the hike in price is because individuals are leaving the system. This is due to the health insurance reforms.

Citations

Los Angeles Times

articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/01/business/la-fi-blue-shield-20110301

Radiohead enthusiasts excited about The King of Limbs early release

In 2007, Radiohead made waves in the music business by offering its new album for pay-as-you-wish digital download. Today, a new Radiohead release, “The King of Limbs” early release is creating similar buzz. Some links around the web, including on Mediafire, claimed that this was an album "leak," but it was really the official launch, a day first. Resource for this article – Radiohead release: The King of Limbs early sales making waves by MoneyBlogNewz.

Finally seeing ‘The King of Limbs’ from Radiohead

Radiohead has been working on its "King of Limbs" album for the past few years. An electronic download was promised for Saturday, Feb. 19 after it was announced last Monday. The Radiohead launch of “The King of Limbs” was released early though, on Friday morning. They decided to launch it since the band was ready along with the online store. Initially, message boards were filled with excited messages reporting that Radiohead’s "King of Limbs" was on Mediafire as a leak, however it turns out that was the official release.

Cash put into ‘The King of Limbs’

Though the 2007 album "Rainbows" from Radiohead was offered as pay-what-you-want record, "The King of Limbs" has a set price. You may pay between $9 and $14 for a digital download of it. For $48 to $53, you can get the digital download plus receive two clear vinyl records by mail. The release of “Rainbows” was pretty exciting. At the average price of $6, only 40 percent of fans bought it. A lot of enthusiasts are upset that “The King of Limbs” is more expensive than what “Rainbows” cost. Nevertheless, it’s now at the exact same level as iTunes with the $1 a song price.

Music development

Radiohead is just one of the major bands that have decided to go without a major studio label. Nine Inch Nails has also moved away from labels and studios to independent, electronic distribution. The bands with really strong followings do really well with music on their own. However, digital downloads is something even small bands are doing really well with. An industry worth several million dollars a year has built up to help independent artists distribute their music on iTunes and other digital music stores. It is good to have a career without studio support. The majority is doing it.

Articles cited

The King of Limbs

thekingoflimbs.com/DIUSD.htm

Venture Beat

venturebeat.com/2011/02/18/radiohead-king-of-limbs/

Plastic heart beats for three days and nights, begins trend

The Smithsonian Institution has an incredible number of items in its vaults that many never see. The Smithsonian Institution releases photos of several of their warehoused items. On Valentine’s Day, the Smithsonian released a photo of the first plastic heart. That first synthetic heart beat for three full days. This kind of medical technology no doubt took a huge personal loan to produce.

Start of plastic heart

The first plastic heart ever to be implanted in a human being was installed in 1969. The plastic heart was developed by Dr. Domingo Liotta and implanted by Dr. Denton A. Cooley. Dr. Cooley commandeered the plastic heart from Dr. Liotta’s lab and implanted it without approval. The patient’s plastic heart beat for 3 days and nights before a human transplant heart was found. A trend started with the plastic heart. This was after the patient perished, even with the human heart. Pictures of the plastic heart were unveiled on St. Valentine’s Day by the Smithsonian Institution which is where it now resides.

Transplants of plastic hearts being evolved

In 1969, the first “plastic” heart got implanted. The Food and Drug Administration did not approve it until 2004 though. The first viable plastic heart transplant that beat for a long time was evolved in 1982. It was called the Jarvick-7. In 2004, the plastic heart was approved to be a temporary replacement. Another transplant is done once a human heart is found. In 2006, the FDA approved a permanent plastic heart transplant, the AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart. A 13-pound device in a backpack is needed in order to keep a plastic heart going. Annually, it is maintained on $18,000.

Can a self-contained heart happen?

There is still a dream for a plastic heart. The dream started in 1969 though. Plastic hearts are accessible to keep someone alive. Still, heavy equipment and maintenance is needed for it. Between the 3-day plastic heart and the 13 pound backpack heart, there were 30 years. That means that it may be decades before a self-contained heart is created even though researchers are working on it.

Articles cited

News Desk

newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/liotta-cooley-artificial-heart

New York Times

nytimes.com/2007/11/27/health/27docs.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=denton%20cooley&st=cse

American Heart Association

americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4444

Disney carousel death one of three major injuries in 4th quarter

As a part of their quarterly injury report, Disney has reported a carousel death. During the last three months of the year, Disney parks reported three significant injuries. There are very few accidents to the average park visitor. All three park guests were over seventy one years of age. This kind of coverage may cause Disney the need to obtain a personal loan to spin this press. Source of article – Disney carousel death one of three major injuries in 4th quarter by MoneyBlogNewz.

Death from heart condition occurred on Disney carousel

The Prince Charming carousel was something a 76-year old woman rode in December 2010. She reportedly exited the ride, collapsed and died. The grandmother apparently had a pre-existing heart condition which was exacerbated by the carousel. There are signs on the Prince Charming Regal Carousel that state nobody ought to ride it with a heart condition. This is considering that it is a very tame ride still.

Fourth quarter injuries

There were three major accidents in the last quarter of 2010 that happened at Disney World Theme Park. The 76-year old death was one of them. After writing the Prince Charming Carousel, a 71 year old woman broke her hip and shoulder while another 76 year old woman hurt her leg as she fell off of a moving platform. There aren’t any age needs in the park for rides when it comes to being too old. Elderly individuals can still ride all of the rides.

Reports of the Disney carousel death for safety purposes

Florida does not do any inspections of the major theme parks around Orlando. The rides are not regulated either. Instead, the theme parks each submit quarterly reports to the state outlining the injuries that take place at their parks. In the same time period the Disney carousel death occurred, the other major theme parks reported no injuries to guests. Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, where the Prince Charming Regal Carousel is, averages about 5 million visitors per three-month period. Walt Disney World has hardly any injuries them. There is a .000059 percent injury rate with these accidents reported.

Citations

theme Park Insider

themeparkinsider.com/flume/201004/1895/

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020702235.html

After 2 decades, original World wide web is low on IP addresses

The number of IP addresses made available by the current mathematics of the Web will soon be inadequate. Thursday a non-profit called the International Assigned Numbers Authority allocated the remaining 5 packages of the 4.3 billion IP addresses it manages for distribution. When the current supply of IP addresses runs dry, a bigger, better Internet protocol is poised to take over. Pretty soon IP addresses might become so rare the prices might increase, causing people to have to take out payday advances just for one.

The old internet is on its last legs

There will be the last IP addresses dispersed throughout the world. This is because the Regional Web Registries, or RIR, got the last ones on Thursday. The 4.3 billion locations that the Internet Protocol version 4, IPv4, started in 1981, is being depleted. But the internet won’t run out of IP addresses for a while. RIRs will lease them to ISPs and wireless carriers and web hosting companies. Some IP addresses are permanently assigned, others are pulled from a stash when routers or smartphones go online. It is generally believed that six to nine months will elapse before there are no more IPv4 addresses left.

How the new internet plays in this

This was something seen by the IANA and other groups. In 1999, a new system called Internet Protocol version 6, or IPv6, was started. The 32-bit number and decimal notation 192.149.252.76 were used for IPv4 addresses. IPv6 addresses use 128-bit numbers and letters as well as hexadecimal (base-16) notation: 3FFE:F200:0234:AB00:0123:4567:8901:ABCD. What is the point of the extra numbers? There are 340 undecillon, or 340 trillion packages for servers, routers, PC’s, smartphones, vehicles, appliances or anything else on networks that can hold a trillion servers.

change from IPv4 to IPv6 to be seen

The average consumer and business won’t have any trouble switching from the IPv4 system to IPv6. Anybody in the web infrastructure will not enjoy the change as much though. There isn’t any compatibility between IPv4 and IPv6. Communication between IPv4 and IPv6 is impossible. It cannot occur right now. The 1981 internet is bound to fill up eventually. When this happens, the IPv4 and IPv6 can coexist together. Software and hardware developers have been creating transition technology and the latest operating systems include default support for IPv6. There’s no need to panic. Remember Y2K?

Citations

CNET

news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20030482-264.html

CNN

cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/03/internet.addresses.gone/index.html?npt=NP1

Mashable

mashable.com/2011/01/22/the-internet-is-running-out-of-space-kind-of/

FL judge – medical care law violates constitution

The Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, in accordance with a judge in FL. A lawsuit joined by attorney generals from twenty-six states has won the support of a second U.S. district court judge: Roger Vinson. The lawsuit zeros in on the so-called individual mandate, a section of the law specifying that all Americans over the age of 18 are required to obtain some form of medical insurance. This could require many American’s to take out pay day loans simply to cover this further costs in their life. Post resource – Florida judge rules entire health care law unconstitutional by MoneyBlogNewz.

How specific mandate brought the Commerce clause up

It was declared by United States District court Judge Vinson, who’s a Republican that Reagan appointed, the Affordable Care Act be thrown out within the ruling the health care law is unconstitutional. The specific mandate is something Vinson believes needs to be taken out of there. He thinks that under the Commerce Clause within the United States Constitution, Congress overstepped boundaries. Another ruling was made comparable to this. The judge in Virginia cited the Commerce Clause as well. Due to this, the health care law needs to be voided. This is what Vinson suggests. He said the individual mandate and the rest of the law are "inextricably bound together in purpose and must stand or fall as a single unit."

The Republican appeal strategy

Health care expenses for the uninsured add up to about $43 billion a year. Because the government is stuck with the bill, the Obama administration contends the specific mandate is legitimate regulation. The specific mandate is intended to make financing health care reform possible, opponents of the law are focusing on that provision. There were 13 attorneys general including 12 republicans and 1 democrat the Commerce Clause suit was done by. There have been 13 more Republican attorneys general that have joined up since then.

The constitution changes the way the medical care debates go

The Center for American Progress, which is a liberal Washington think tank, explains the health care law is constitutional. Over 125 legal scholars signed a statement released on Jan 18 that states the law is constitutional as the individual mandate is a tax provision. It’s a fine according to opponents. Since Americans have to purchase medical health insurance or pay a penalty, it’s a tax, according to the CAP. The Supreme Court has upheld the broad power of Congress to tax in the interests of the general welfare of the nation for 200 years.

Articles cited

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-31/obama-health-care-reform-act-unconstitutional-judge-says-in-26-state-suit.html

Miami Herald

miamiherald.com/2011/01/18/2022545_p2/more-states-join-florida-lawsuit.html

ABC News

blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/unconstitutional-federal-judge-rules-against-health-reform-invalidates-law-over-individual-mandate.html

When property owners foreclosed, John Paulson won

Paulson, a successful hedge fund manager, is considered an investing master by those who think that betting against the U.S. real estate industry – deriving a cash advance each time someone was foreclosed upon – is an acceptable by-product of a deregulated stock market. Thanks to the bursting of the United States housing bubble and some shrewd choices with U.S. financials, Paulson is a billionaire. He won’t be obtaining a pay day loan to cover his home mortgage at any time soon.

Getting Citigroup with Paulson

Several see Paulson as a bad thing. They say that when it comes to Wall Street, he embodies what is wrong with the idea. Paulson has began to change his position after making about $15 billion betting in 2007 against the U.S. housing sector, getting him named a “guru”. The U.S. economy getting better is his new bet. This is where all his money has gone. Part of this meant he invested in different indexes. Part of this “after the fall” outlay he put down was a bet on high gold prices and a bet on rebounding house prices. About $1 billion was earned in 2010 by Paulson’s stake in Citigroup using Paulson & Co. Over the past year, Citigroup’s share price shot up 50 percent.

About $35 billion in investments are owned by Paulson & Co. right now. In the beginning of 2010, John Paulson and business took small lump gains while getting into the double digit gains later even though most hedge funds avoided the volatile industry, accounts Reuters. For 2010, the Paulson Advantage Plus fund had a 17 percent rise for the year. Also, there was a 35 percent jump in Paulson’s gold investments.

Why does 17 percent matter?

When it comes to Paulson being successful, the Globe and Mail points out that the 15 percent gain the S&P 500 had is not much farther down than the 17 percent the Paulson Advantage Plus Fund gained. The Canadian newspaper’s opinion could possibly be wrong though. Even though Paulson did invest “against-the-bubble” hurting the economy in order to make himself millions, the federal regulators did not do anything about this. Yet few accept the excuse.

John Paulson and Joe Stiglitz on the mispricing of risk

Articles cited

The Guardian

guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/07/the-greatest-trade-ever-by-gregory-zuckerman-review-heather-stewart

The Globe and Mail

theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/markets-blog/paulsons-5-billion-haul-big-deal/article1886319/

Reuters

reuters.com/article/2011/01/25/us-hedgefunds-paulson-idUSTRE70O4G820110125

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_default_swap

Festive food suggestions for Super Bowl parties

It’s Super Bowl party time again, and that means it is time for Festive food ideas for Super Bowl events. No matter if you are watching the game for the football or the commercials, the food for celebration could be Festive, simple and tasty. You shouldn’t need to take out a payday advance to supply enough food for every person.

Which Festive food ideas are useful for the Super Bowl best

The Super Bowl is all about two teams facing off on a green field, but representing that with a cake or classic dip might feel a little old. There are other choices. One is team v team food. When it comes to chili, dip, chips, dessert and hot wings, you need to have 2 different types of each. This will help a bit. Have guests choose which “team” they prefer while having it all anonymously labeled. Anything could be considered team-themed cuisine. You don’t have to use the team colors for it.

Which finger foods ought to be chosen for a Super Bowl celebration

You are able to be less stressful with cuisine that is easy to make for Super Bowl party. Try some mini quiches for the celebration. Just make them in miniature cupcake pans and freeze them. Bake your quiches at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until the center is mostly solid. To make them, just put 1 ½ cup filling within the mixed six eggs and half a cup of milk. You are able to put chunks of yellow, red and purple bell pepper into them for the Steelers logo if you really want to. You are able to use the Packers colors by putting yellow and green pepper on cheddar cheese.

What Festive foods the Super bowl might need with a theme

Cheese is one thing that will identify with the Green Bay Packers when it comes to the Super Bowl. It’s simple enough to put together a cheese plate if you need to. If you do not want to worry about putting it together, it is simple enough to just purchase one. When it comes to Pittsburgh, it is not as simple. There is not any cuisine that goes with the team. However, the Clark Bar was first created in Pittsburgh, as was the open-faced Devonshire Sandwich and Heinz Ketchup. You are able to get these products together with no issue. Pittsburgh will appreciate it either way. Make sure the cuisine you prepare is easy to serve and can be eaten anywhere. You would not want to miss the game getting an appetizer.

No energy grid necessary with Bloom Electrons

Bloom Energy of California has created an alternative energy source known as the Bloom Box. The Bloom Box is a self-contained source of energy. So far its on-site application has been cost prohibitive for the mainstream. To solve that problem Bloom Energy has created the Bloom Electrons program to eliminate the Bloom Box’s upfront costs. This could help several individuals get Bloom Box without needing a payday advance to sign up.

Details about the Bloom Electrons system

The clean power industry was happy to welcome in Bloom Energy. The Bloom Box seemed perfect. Electricity could be produced with the “energy saver” Bloom Box. There’s a very low carbon footprint with it as well. Want to know the price of a Bloom Box? Over $700,000 is the cost. The price has caused the number of Bloom Energy consumers to be quite low. Businesses include B of A, FedEx, eBay and Google. More people might want Bloom Boxes with the Bloom Electrons being created. In order to do this, Bloom Energy has partnered with Credit Suisse and Silicon Valley Bank. A fixed rate is offered for onsite Bloom Boxes with a 10 year agreement for electricity. This is what the financing business Bloom Electrons does.

Using clean power to make Bloom Electrons go

Bloom Electrons allows corporations to go off the grid using Bloom Box energy with no upfront costs. Companies that have already purchased Bloom Boxes up front expect to recoup the cost of the unit anywhere from three to six years after they’re installed. With Bloom Electrons, Bloom Energy said corporations can start saving up to 20 percent immediately on what they’re paying in California. CA is the only place Bloom Electrons is available in. It’s about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in the U.S. for average electricity. Power can be produced at 14 cents per kilowatt-hour by Bloom Boxes. But California subsidies and federal clean energy incentives bring Bloom Electrons power down to about 7 centers per kilowatt-hour.

Seeing Bloom Box all over

In three to five years Bloom Energy plans to have the Bloom Box well enough done so that it can compete without the need for subsidies. To do that the company will first have to ramp up Bloom Box production to meet the demand anticipated from the Bloom Electrons system. One Bloom Box a month was created by Bloom Energy 2 years back. When it comes to shipping Bloom Boxes, the business has gotten faster. It can do one a day now. Production price is something Bloom Energy hopes to be able to lower while increasing production of it. That way, the creating world could be able to have access to it eventually.

Articles cited

Business Week

businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2011/tc20110120_212633.htm

TechCrunch

techcrunch.com/2011/01/20/bloom-launches-financing-service/

Reuters

reuters.com/article/idUS9777404420110120

Deceased birds litter Louisiana interstate

CNN: Dead Birds Litter Louisiana Roads

 

Thousands of dead birds dropped from the air in AR around Brand new Years, followed by a similar event involving deceased birds in Louisiana days later. The two occurrences are eerily comparable, and took place within days and a few hundred miles apart.

Deceased birds in Louisiana follow AR incident

Reports are emerging of massive numbers of deceased birds falling out of Louisiana skies. The event took place just days after the small town of Beebe, Ark., saw several thousand blackbirds drop out of the sky on Brand new Years’ Eve. A stretch of interstate in northern Louisiana in Pointe Coupee Parish near Labarre, Louisiana, had over 500 blackbirds, starlings, and sparrows’ rain from the sky, according to CNN. The plunge did not kill all the birds. They did all die though. The rain of deceased birds occurred about 300 miles south of Beebe, Ark., where the original incident of dead birds pouring from the sky took place. The incidents might be connected. The birds from both have been sent for testing.

AR birds die due to trauma

The necropsy, or autopsy, of the deceased birds from Arkansas indicates the birds likely died from trauma suffered that brought on the birds to drop from the sky. A physical tension to the breast tissue was what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commissioner said taken place to the birds. Most specimens had hemorrhaged and were bleeding internally. It did not seem like there was a disease.

Experiencing a variety of raining birds

Hail or lightening might very well have been responsible for the groups of birds being dead. There might have been a cold weather and storm front that moved through. The first event might have had fireworks as part of what taken place since birds in flight have difficulty with loud noises, although there is no connection to the second event.

Information from

CNN

us.cnn.com/2011/US/01/03/arkansas.falling.birds/index.html?hpt=T2