Martell Spy

Delays fuel GOP blame game over Trump nominees Trump wanted a flurry of confirmations on Day One. It’s not likely to happen. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/08/trump-nominees-confirmation-senate-tensions-00197090

The House is functioning? That's news to me. We'll see I guess if Johnson can get over the hump.

Many believe US healthcare industry was to blame in CEO killing, poll reveals Americans point to coverage denials and steep profits from insurance industry after Brian Thompson’s killing https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/27/united-healthcare-brian-thompson-poll

Trump advisers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy expose rift with MAGA loyalists over immigrant tech workers The backlash escalated Thursday, when Vivek Ramaswamy, in a post on X, criticized an American culture that he said “venerated mediocrity over excellence.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-open-rift-maga-loyalists-skilled-worker-visa-rcna185557

About what you'd expect. Paying for sex, paying for underage sex (apparently knowingly at one point), boat trips to have sex, violations of House ethics rules. Taking cocaine, taking Ecstacy. The really shocking thing is what a cheap John he is. 400? Trump’s big Mike Johnson decision A messy Capitol Hill endgame has the president-elect pondering a change in House leadership. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/23/mike-johnson-speaker-trump-limbo-00195854

In Soviet Russia, egg eats you!

Saw 2 eps. Loving it so far. Really strong visuals in general. The Gypsies especially are great. Like a lot of people I would have called this book unadaptable, but it looks they did a credible job. Also, not funny in general, but just randomly it has made me laugh in places. The novel it's based on might be the oddest novel I've read. Reading it in parts was a bit like a fever dream. Some of it went over my head. Aureliano Buendia is my favorite character of course.

Great news. I thought Cranston was retiring. I guess it did not stick.

I'm reminded of the TV show Rome, where they'd get exiled to Africa or something. Happy to let Greece have her. Who should we send to Canada?

My sister needed the right wheelchair to survive. Insurance refused it till the end My mother’s love and resilience helped my sister through a rare condition. But every step in her 17-year life was a fight with health insurers https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/13/health-insurance-wheelchair-delay

I read a while back about a farmer on California who voted for Trump and thinks that Trump will make an exception for the undocumented immigrants that work in his fields as they are good hard-working people.

The health insurance lobby have excellent lobbyists. The providers have even better ones. To accomplish anything in healthcare you have to deal with at least one of them because they are very influential where it counts in Congress. I'm not sure how it works in countries with better healthcare systems, but we'd be a lot better off if healthcare lobbyists where something more like say Space flight lobbyists. Under the status quo insurance and provider lobbyists have a strong incentive to work against American consumers. There's also a lot of people that want healthcare to be like a luxury good, like a sports car. You know you are dealing with a hard-working desirable person by their excellent health coverage, even if they little need of using it.

The nukes were in season 3 finale, I believe. I did continue watching though. I almost quit, then I heard they were going to bring magic into the Arrowverse in season 4 which got me excited. I think I actually finished season 4. Don't think Damien Dhark (also not sure on the spelling) had anything to do with the nukes. He was the big bad of season 4 though and a magic-user. It didn't work for me though. I was hoping for something like Marvel has done with Dr. Strange and others. I've liked wizards and witches since I was a kid. They basically made wizards as just people that found a magic rock or stick. Without the magical item they are powerless. I'm not completely against the idea, used a certain way, but I hated it as the entire basis of magic in The Arrowverse. And while I think I completed the season, I was done at that point, also colored me against continuing The Flash and others. I may watch it someday, but it may literally be when I retire. Too much TV and too little time. I read about the villain for the upcoming Marvel show Ironheart. That uses the whole regular dude finds a magical trinket and gains powers idea, but I actually like how that is done. But it's not the entirety of all magic characters in the entire universe and the character sounds intriguing. The Hood/Parker Robbins is the character.

Arrow, season three finale. I knew something was wrong when nukes were casually tossed around.

Judge pauses Kroger-Albertsons merger in victory for Biden The ruling serves as a capstone for an aggressive antitrust agenda under President Joe Biden. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/10/kroger-albertsons-merger-biden-00193574

What is a claim denial is murky now since they now have these authorization denials that get reversed.. They read as a denial on paper though. (I viewed it on a website and it literally said denial) It can cause people to think they are denied.

Ocasio-Cortez launches bid for top role on Oversight, as some Dems predict she’ll win Some Democrats are predicting she'll win the race against Rep. Gerry Connolly. https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/06/congress/ocasio-cortez-prepares-oversight-bid-00193010

As well as Covid and the lockdowns. You'd think they'd be over it as it is now past history, but you'd be wrong.

It's not just United Healthcare. Most of the companies do that now. They deny your authorization. I ran into it myself. They have no legal grounds to deny, but they force your doctor to go to a hearing with an insurance doctor. It basically delays care about a week or two.

US supreme court conservatives appear reluctant to overturn Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care Justices suggest US v Skrmetti case challenging state’s ban on treatments for trans minors differs from other cases due to medical ramifications https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/04/skrmetti-supreme-court-case

Yeah, about to watch this. Colman Domingo completely stole the show on Fear the Walking Dead as Victor Strand. Kept watching that show long after I should have since his character was still around.

Elon Musk’s massive, multibillion-dollar Tesla pay package was blocked by a judge again https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/02/investing/elon-musk-pay-package-rejected/index.html

Well, then Biden deprived him of that opportunity. Good.

Trump announces he intends to replace current FBI director with loyalist Kash Patel https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/30/politics/kash-patel-fbi-director-trump/index.html

You can get there in stages though. The limited negotiating on certain drugs in Medicare is one of those stages. It's a step towards price controls in healthcare, a key component of universal healthcare like other developed nations have.