Obamacare

I am an avid listener of talk radio. There are two stations in the Baton Rouge area, NPR 89.3 FM  and Talk 107.3 FM that I listen to primarily. Both stations have covered Obamacare "The Affordable Care Act" on their stations with listener call ins on how it has affecteed them.

The majority of listeners that I have heard deplore Obamacare. Some have said that it has devastated their budgets while a minority have said it offered them an opportunity to gain access to insurance they would not have had otherwise.

Personally, it has increased the cost of my insurance. I work for a large (+10,000 employee) company. The company has effectively raised my insurance by requiring an access fee for my spouse. Gone are the days when YOU could decide what is best for you and your family. In is the government knows best and we the people have no say in the matter.  So, I side with the majority of listeners that state Obamacare  is bad, VERY BAD.

Now don't get me wrong. There are some aspects of the ACA that I like. For instance, my daughter is able to be covered under my insurance. Without ACA she would have been forced onto Medicaid if she qualified. Yes it does provide insurance for those that could not otherwise obtain. However, overall there are and have been alternate options for those that did not qualify.

There has been Medicaid, the state run federally funded option. This of course is wrought with its own downfalls and could be a whole other story to tell. Paying an increased premium, not always affordable. Or no insurance at all.

What I want to leave saying about all of this is that Obamacare should be repealed and let the people decide how best to cover themselves. Yes, some will not be able to get insurance, but Medicaid could have been expanded to include those that were uninsured due to chronic illness but don't force this on the middle class which pays the majority of the taxes.

Caylee's Law

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Power Tool Review

My son had bought a 1966 Mustang last year. He finally got it to our house to do some basic repairs to make it road ready. As he was doing the repairs he would come across another repair problem which led to another and another. You get my drift. We have now invested about $1000 in repair materials. Some of the materials were tools that we did not have.

The first tool that we purchased was an angle grinder. We went to a local big box DIY center to purchase it. We purchased a Ryobi 4.5 inch angle grinder model number AG452. The grinder was on sell for about $40. It came with its own case and two grinding discs. A feature this grinder has that others do not is a  handle which is easily rotated with the push of a button so you can hold the grinding wheel at the angle you need. It also comes with a three position handle. The trigger is located on the handle which I like versus the switch commonly found on a grinder. I would recommend this grinder if you are looking for one to purchase.

The second tool that we needed to purchase was a welder. We did not want to invest in a $300-500 welder since we were trying to watch our expenditures. We bought the cheapest arc (stick) welder we could find. When I say cheap this was as cheap as you can get, it was a Chicago Electric ARC-120 welder, we paid $110 at a national store that sells mostly tools. Right out of the box it has to be assembled with the handle and electrical plug. The handle broke almost immediately after attachment; could not support the weight of the welder. The plug had to be purchased separately as the welder could be used either on a 120v or 220v outlet. Neither the box nor the retailer mentioned the fact that no plugs came in the box. So a separate trip to the local hardware store ensued. Once we opened the box and read the manual as one should, we discovered as well that the manufacturer recommended on a 120v outlet that it have a 30 amp circuit breaker. Now in my house most of the breakers are either 15 or 20 amps. The only 30 amp breakers are for the stove and icebox which the plugs are located inside the house. Maybe the electrical requirements are common knowledge but it was not to me or my son. We will still use it going with the electrical receptacles located in the garage which are of the 15 amp nature and hope for the best. If I could have a do over I would invest more and get a better welder, either a MIG or Arc from Lincoln electric.

XBox 360

My wife and I bought an XBox 360 without the Kinect as a Christmas gift for our son. The one we purchased did not have the Kinect, even though this particular item is to compete against the Wii. The XBox 360 has 250GB of space along with two free games, Alan Wake and Forza Motorsport 3.

Alan Wake is a third person shooter psychological thriller by Remedy and Microsoft. It is set in and around the fictional town of Bright Falls, Washington. Alan Wake tries to discover clues to the disappearance of his wife while both are on vacation in Bright Falls.

The game is split into six episodes which is narrative driven. Alan Wake looks for clues in locations around Bright Falls such as the forest, national park and farm. Light plays an important role since most of the action takes place at night and the humanoid creatures can only be killed when a light is shone on them.

Forza Motorsport 3 is a racing game by Turn 10 Studios. Originally released in 2009, it is the third in the series for Forza Motorsport. It offers several hundred cars that can be customized from over 50 manufacturers and over 100 racetracks that the player can race up to eight different cars.

New to this series are stock cars and the ability to customize each vehicle for color and upgrade. The game includes Xbox live content for the online gamer.

Super Sunday

The Super Bowl is playing on television (cable).  I am glad that the Green Bay Packers won. Aaron Rodgers played a good game as GB's quarterback. This was an interesting football game but had a poor pregame and half time entertainment. This along with all the other misfortune that Dallas has had to endure leading up to the game. The worst snow in a long time that had delayed flights and fans from arriving into Dallas. The 400 plus fans that had their seats taken away from them at game time due to a fire marshal ruling.

Christina Aguilera sang the national anthem for the game opener. She sang the wrong words to the anthem, which made all the news networks. She left out the words "O'er the ramparts we watched" and replaced them with a verse that she had already sang, but she even changed the words for that to  "What so proudly we watched," instead of "What so proudly we hailed".  If she forgot the words, that's fine. Our anthem is considered one of the hardest anthems to sing. Many singers have forgotten some of the words. Don't say it is a remix or artistic license as Deion Sanders tweeted. Any purposeful change to the words of the national anthem is a discredit and dishonor to our nation.

The Black Eyed Peas were the half time show.  The glitz and light show were impressive. This however did not cover up their technical difficulties. The microphone for Fergie could have been turned down a notch or two so she could better blend with the other singers. The "V" in love during the song "Where is the Love" was half lit. Then to have Slash and Usher show up for two of the songs. Did they need that to take your mind off their mediocre performance? Hum....Maybe?

Movies

Sitting here watching the movie 2012. I have watched this movie at least five times since we bought the DVD. The special effects are outstanding, the story line believable, the acting at times is corny but overall an excellent movie. Woody Harrleson plays this secluded, conspiracy nut. He believes the government is hiding something in Yellowstone Park and broadcasts his theories and observations over the radio. John Cusack plays a father who starts to believe what Harrleson's character is saying. Cusack attempts to save his family from disaster which could be the end of the world. I don't want to give away to much, just watch the movie to see if he does save his family. Could this really happen? Did the Mayan's know something that we don't?

Political medicine...

Sitting here watching CNN. They just had a story about the judge that has ruled the healthcare overhaul unconstitutional. The Florida federal judge, US District Judge Roger Vinson said that the government can not tell citizens to buy a commercial product. You know the White House is going to appeal this ruling.

I realize this is a complicated problem where the final answer will please some but not others. I believe that no one should be forced to buy insurance. If you are an adult, you have the capability to weigh the financial and medical risks of not being insured.  But don't tell me I have to buy it. What will be the final outcome of all this? Who knows...