Interesting Tidbits

A Midsummer Day’s Post

Posted by bmagnus on June 21, 2010 at 9:50 am

Happy Solstice! Now might be a good time for some bloggy closet cleaning (did mine with the redesign, thanks!). And here’s a little meme courtesy of Kathy. Here’s how it works: Google up “[your name here] needs.” My needs are interesting. I apparently need: Your Support a Spring Haircut a Forever Home and to Change. [...]

Happy Towel Day

Posted by bmagnus on May 25, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Happy Towel Day. In Closing: “Words of Power” go far beyond framing; Oh, so that’s why they’re anti-tax and anti-government-anything; innocence and stupidity; obligatory gulf oil leak items; Spock’s Obama’s Brain; the text message can wait until you are not moving; it’s hard to stay enthusiastic about a reform for a broken system that will [...]

A Fifth of Amendment

Posted by bmagnus on May 20, 2010 at 3:48 pm

It’s been a long time since I talked about the Bill of Rights. Check out the previous installments: One, Two, Three, *crunch!* Four. Remember, all ten were written by guys who overthrew the legal government. Not that you’ll be learning that in Texas anymore. The Fifth Amendment is probably the one people know the best, [...]

Why Your Medical Bills Go Up Next Year

Posted by bmagnus on May 6, 2010 at 4:38 pm

And, Why Your Doctor Won’t Get a Penny of That Money Maybe some of you recall my posting a picture taken from the 3rd floor of the Clark County Courthouse. Perhaps you wondered why I was there. I had been called to jury duty. Now that the trial that I was in the jury pool [...]

Paging Dr. Dynasaur!

Posted by bmagnus on March 23, 2010 at 3:24 pm

For the benefit of younger readers: Back in the old days before cell phones, there were pagers. And before that, there was the overhead paging system. Not that many years ago, it was normal to hear things like “Dr. Jones to 4B nursing station, please” on the hospital public address system. Ok. It’s law now. [...]

Twist the Facts

Posted by bmagnus on March 13, 2010 at 11:11 am

Yesterday morning, I wrote a post over at Age Against the Machine on British research showing that oral contraceptives reduce women’s risk of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease. Those happen to be the top two causes of death for American women, so it’s a big deal. And we aren’t talking about some teeny study, [...]

“Tell Me a Story, Gramma!”*

Posted by bmagnus on February 16, 2010 at 6:03 pm

I get so tired of being angry at politicians, banks, and the clueless. I wanted to bring you a happy story today. How about this one, about the First Grandmother — or FGOTUS — settling in to White House living and helping raise 2 adorable (if perhaps chubby*) grandchildren while their parents do important work. [...]

“I’m late. No, you don’t understand, I’m LATE.”

Posted by bmagnus on January 23, 2010 at 11:34 am

Do you trust me? Seriously. Do you trust me? Do you trust me to drive a car? Even if I am on the same road as you? Do you trust me to balance my own checkbook? Do you trust me to select and cook nutritious meals? I have a CPR certification; do you trust me [...]

4 Thoughts on Health Insurance Reform

Posted by bmagnus on December 21, 2009 at 11:46 am

Notice I never call it health care reform? That’s because it isn’t. Very little of what is being discussed will change what happens between you and your doctor beyond how (and how much) he* gets paid. As I see it, there are 5 points of view on the bill currently being rammed through the Senate: [...]

Bed, Bath, and Way Beyond This Nonsense

Posted by bmagnus on December 15, 2009 at 11:22 am

Yesterday, we decided it was high time to purchase a particular item for our kitchen. And not particularly wanting to pay Williams and Sonoma prices, we headed to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Let me begin by saying that this is not a particularly strange item. 20 years ago, any quality cook’s supply would have had [...]