Things to Know - 21 June

1.  Change of Pace:  When you think you have it all figured out, or you want to probe into the world around us, click on this.   Kind of puts all the nonsense humans do into perspective:

http://htwins.net/scale2/?bordercolor=white

2.  We are going along talking about "Obama Care" or the Affordable Care Act, and we probably do not know all the details.   This link is a quick overview of what is involved, and the staggered dates on which components are actives. Some are already now in effect.  Read it - it's not that long - and see what the Republicans and Romney are promising to "repeal" if elected:

http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx

3.  Meet the head of the NRA.  He's the guy who, with a bit of a real weirdo, created the hysteria in the GOP that has resulted in the Attorney General's contempt of congress action:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/43859

4.  Republicans are on a tear to kill any legislation that is designed to protect the environment and the health of the nation's residents.  Good old Senator "global warming is a hoax" Inhofe from Oklahoma is at the front of the line:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/9878-senators-try-to-kill-epa-effort-to-reduce-mercury-and-toxic-air-pollution

5.  Wasting time, again, and again.  Political skirmishing is not indicative of a political party interested in solving real problems. Shame, shame, shame:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/opinion/a-pointless-partisan-fight.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

6.  Gail Collins rips into the wonders of privatizing things that government does now, and how the privates screw things up - very badly and end up costing more.   I can attest to this form my experiences in the airline industry.  I know that the TSA rankles a lot of people and is a miserable experience, and questionable in its mission.  However, I was remember how things were like when private enterprise ran the "security" or appearance of it at airports.  It was sloppy, shoddy, miserable and ineffective:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/opinion/collins-political-private-practice.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

7.  Charles Blow sums up the dilemma we find ourselves in right now in this election season.  Our gummint is dysfunctional and broken, the legislative and judicial bodies are out of whack, distrust in institutions abound, and weird extremists are running around making things worse:

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/campaigns-and-crankiness/?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

8.  A massive alternative energy plant is being built in the desert near Las Vegas.  Mirrors will reflect solar heat to a point which will heat water to over 1,000 degrees and create a steam generation system.  Okay, any time something this size comes along, it has its skeptics and concerns, but let's see how it works out:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-heat-plume-20120621,0,4153047,print.story

9.  I'll be that most of you did not know this.  The bank customer is liable for all court costs, regardless of who wins or loses, if the customer sues the bank for disputes on the account.  So, how fair is this?.   I think it's time for all to just chuck the whole system and head for your nearest available credit union:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-banking-liability-20120621,0,5691456,print.story

--
Juan

"Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought." 
       -- Sir William Osler

"I can forgive Alfred Nobel for having invented dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize." 
       -- George Bernard Shaw

"Happiness isn't something you experience; it's something you remember." 
       -- Oscar Levant

"Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist ought to have his head examined." 
       -- Samuel Goldwyn