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March 26, 2025
Sunrise — 6:22, 6:43, 6:49, 6:50.
Talk about whatever you want in the comments. And support the Althouse blog by doing your Amazon shopping going in through the Althouse Amazon link.
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55 comments:
Amazing pictures..
I work in the health care field, and as I sit and watch the shit show unfolding in my hospital today, I am more persuaded than ever that our medical system is among the most dysfunctional institutions in our society. Which is really saying something. Is there a role for single-payer government catastrophic coverage? I have come to think so.
This goes against all my libertarian-conservative principles, as does my growing support for Trump's tariff policies, but there has got to be a way to cut the insurance-company pirates out of the doctor-patient relationship. If Trump can achieve this he will be the next president on Mt. Rushmore.
I favor the mixed approach seen in places like Singapore and Switzerland, where the free market is harnessed to take care of keeping costs down for people who are basically healthy, but have transient ailments that they can and should pay for themselves. At a certain point, however, when a severe chronic illness or a major injury has run costs up to a point that no ordinary person could pay for them with years of their salary, the government is the insurer of last resort and takes over.
We need universal tax-favored HSA (health savings accounts) that can receive personal pre-tax contributions, employer contributions that are deductible as business expenses, and for those in poverty, monthly deposits from what used to be Medicaid. Maybe we fold TriCare and Medicare into it too, or maybe we don't. Baby steps...
Expenditures up to, say, half a year's salary are covered by your HSA. You are encouraged to shop around and pay cash for the best deal. There is no more pre-authorization, deductibles, or other wrangling with insurance companies. The only remaining health insurance would be optional supplemental policies to cover the gap between your HSA balance and the threshold at which government catastrophic coverage kicks in. Those who take care of their health, control expenses, and invest their HSA wisely will garner a surplus that can be added to their IRA in retirement.
This will never happen by ordinary political mechanisms because no one sloshes money around Washington quite like the insurance companies. It will take a bold once-in-a-century phenomenon like Trump to do it. Just as only Nixon could go to China, only a Trump can convince the people and bully the Congress to adopt such a disruptive but innovative model.
When people say they want government health care, they're usually not saying they want to be welfare queens depending on Uncle Sam to pay for every runny nose and broken finger. They are just asking not to be bankrupted by ruinously expensive chronic illnesses or a bad car wreck. That's a legitimate function of government, to do for individuals what no individual could reasonably be expected to do for himself.
I think that net expenditures on health care would go way down with this model, not only for the government, but from the patients too, and all other payers throughout society. Pay for providers would go up, as long as they ran their operations efficiently.
The insurance companies would be devastated, as it would be their gravy train that would be derailed, their rice bowl emptied, to keep things working. But everyone else would benefit.
Anyone up for some Taj Mahal?
Corina
I'm not a morning person at all, but I'm considering getting up early if I could see a sunrise like the one Ann posted.
Those are stunning pictures!
Great Photos! Great sunrise all week long.
Thanks!
Wow! What a show the morning put on.
While a plausible explanation for the Dem/MSM hysteria over "the Signal Chat" is that they are at the point where they are throwing chairs and glassware and will use anything available to attack Trump, I suspect that the focus on Hegseth has more to do with the pending DOGE audit of the Pentagon. As Mike Benz has documented, the stuff that USAID was doing is just the tip of the iceberg. The Pentagon is the epicenter of the graft and propaganda bonanza. They want Hegseth out or neutered before he starts cutting and exposing.
That photo series calls for some vintage Mike Farris.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2B4hjr1LBY
Snap Your Fingers!
The top photo is sublime
Beautiful pictures.
"they're usually not saying they want to be welfare queens depending on Uncle Sam to pay for every runny nose and broken finger."
Oh, but many, many, are saying exactly that. And so will the politicians that rely on their votes.
Man, this Signal thing is really paying off for Trump! Not only did it scare a couple of chocolate blintzes out of Jeffery Goldberg but the Congressional Dems and CNN have been in constant freakout since Monday.
trump tells reporters in white house Hegseth is a good man he had nothing to do with the meeting.Trump says Hegseth ‘had nothing to do’ with Signal scandal with Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg.THIS GUY IS OBVIUSLY SO FAR OUT OF THE LOOP AND COGMNITIVELY gone he has not clue.Like Hogans Heros Sargeant Shultz I KNOW NOTHING.Who the hell is in charge there beside Musk while this perp spends his time with failing EO'S and golfing. THE FREAKIN TEAM OF HEGSETH AND GROUP SAY yeah we think that's what he wants,,just likeI DIDNT SIGN THE alien act paperwork..Gonna need a Nancy Reagan to watch this guy from talking to the curtains like Ronnie was..WTF..
This sunrise series - the intense red peeking through in the first to the intense red fully peaking in the last - is a metaphor for Trump’s/MAGA’s gains over time across the country. The inverse is also true - the blues ebb.
Homeric.
At that same press conference, Trump was asked about the 4 dead US soldiers in Lithuania, he didn’t know that the 4 US soldiers had been killed. What? This is pathetic.
The first and last are the best.
Trending Headlines:
"Erykah Badu says she vandalised her own Tesla to ‘stay on trend’
"What is recession blonde and why is it trending?"
Stunning.
Tears for Fears has a new song out. A new album out.
I saw Roland walking into a local grocery store. I mustered up the courage and asked if it was him. It was.
Wow/wild. I was unprepared. Couldn't think of anything to say except "I'm a big fan" ..& "I love your new album"
His new young wife is a Colorado Girl. Roland looked old for his age. I wonder if he lives in Boulder now?
Thank F Kamala lost.
The problem with the "free market" in healthcare is that the "Consumer" has no ability to compare treatments/doctors and choose the right one. Its not like shopping for a car. If you're sitting in the back of an ambulance on the way to ER, you can't whip out your cell phone and start comparing prices.
That's why all these treatments, surgeries, drug tests, etc. should all for a set price. And there's something going on with the price of healthcare. My father-in-law had an operation and was in the hospital for 5 days. The Bill showed total charges of $140,000, allowed by Insurance company $70,000. and a co-payment due from my father-in-law of $1,000. Are these all just made up numbers? Is the insurance company really paying the hospital 70K for 5 days? Is someone somewhere without insurance paying 140K. Its insane.
"WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO on Wednesday clarified comments that Secretary-General Mark Rutte made earlier in the day, when he suggested that four U.S. soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania had died, even though the U.S. Army said their fate was not yet confirmed.
“The search is ongoing,” NATO said in a statement posted on X. “We regret any confusion about remarks @SecGenNATO delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports & was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown.”
The U.S. Army said the Hercules armored vehicle the four U.S. soldiers were in during a training exercise had been found submerged in a body of water. It said recovery efforts were underway by U.S. Army and Lithuanian Armed Forces and civilian agencies.
The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting tactical training when they went missing.
Asked Wednesday evening by reporters if he had been briefed about the missing soldiers, President Donald Trump said, “No, I haven’t.”
Some people just take up space. Looking at you Dinky. Nothing better to do with your time?
Again - Inag.
"Asked Wednesday evening by reporters if he had been briefed about the missing soldiers, President Donald Trump said, “No, I haven’t.”
Trump had not been briefed yet. How dare he! The expectation from the same people who forgave crook puppet old withering dithering dementia dip-shit Biden - have completely different expectations for Trump.... who must be perfect and omnipotent.
Anybody reading the Atlantic published 'American War Plans against the Houthis'?
First it was The NYT Pentagon Papers. 🫣
Then the outing of CIA Valery Plame 😲
And now a Signal chat with a mole 🤯
As Harry Reid would say... 'The war is lost.'
Trump was asked about the 4 dead US soldiers in Lithuania, he didn’t know that the 4 US soldiers had been killed.
Using the bodies of four, dead servicemen to take a political shot at a President who had yet to be briefed on the matter.
You're a disgusting excuse for a human being.
Now that we're on Medicare, we get these statements every time we have an appt. or procedure.
Procedure charges: $5,000
Medicare approved charges: $2,000
Medicare paid: $700
Patient owes: $42.50
I have no idea what it means.
Spectacular pics!
I didn't realize just how much information was out on X before Trump was inaugurated and I started actually looking at it. Today I realized if I wanted to spread anything- I had to immediately retweet (because re-X doesn't sound right..) it so it would be available later so I could share it. Because when you go on 12 hours later that comment may not be in your feed.
Today's tweet I wanted to share with response was someone complaining that racists were constantly posting videos of blacks giving old white people or Asians beatdowns, and black students ganging up to give white students beatdowns, and they were all doing it to stoke hatred against blacks. And sometimes blacks ganging up to give beatdowns to other blacks such as teachers or other authority figures. I sometimes see these types of videos appear in the comment sections of other blogs or even as the subject matter on other sites. I cannot say that aren't doing it to stoke hatred against blacks, because it's more then obvious some are. But many aren't- they share the videos for other reasons. Some, obviously, just because they like beat down videos. I intensely dislike those people even though I've never met them IRL... And the other reasons, well, just because?
Cell phones are ubiquitous today and if there's any kind of fracas odds are someone is making a video of it. Doesn't matter who is involved. Now that I think of it, the above post was not the actual post I was reading, but was embedded in another post. That had a very salient point. "Feel free to post similar videos of white or Asian youth doing the same."
Post similar videos of white of Asian youth doing the same ... Asian youth meaning Asian, not the European/British euphemism for muslim... Apparently either they do not exist, or so rare that if one surfaces, it will be front page news on every MSM outlet as well as headlines for every MSM television outlet and news show. And repeatedly retweeted by every Democrat officeholder in the USA- accompanied by a statement blaming President Trump and other Republicans.
I have seen an occasional video of whites fighting other whites in a group or mob type fashion. 18+, so adults. And when digging further down, it always seems to be different groups of immigrants with age old hatred against each other back in the home country(ies) and they haven't yet fully assimilated here. But even today there is the occasional, maybe more then occasional, dustup between Irish and English, usually in Northern Ireland. But here in the USA, as an example, my English/Scottish grandfather, 5 generations American on all lines of descent, who I distinctly remember railing against d--n Papists, married a cute Irish girl whose parents were fresh off the boat from Ireland.
America is a place to forget all those past wrongdoings. Until you forget them, you haven't fully assimilated.
I wasn't aware that we have a free market in health care. Perhaps we should try it before criticizing it. Yes, I know that's what Socialists say about Socialism, but in this case it's actually true. The Feds have made a hash of the system.
"Karen Henderson ... voted to keep the lower court order in place. ... And she rejected the government's argument that the court could not consider questions of foreign policy or national security." NPR on 3 judge appellate ruling upholding stay of deportations.
Intolerable that a judge believes that she has this authority. The judicial power of US courts under article three extends only to cases of law and equity, in which subject matter issues of foreign policy and national security are not included. This is what insurrection really looks like.
"This is what insurrection really looks like."
I do think it will soon reach the point that Trump will have to ignore them. Then we'll see what happens.
It's very difficult to feel good about following the news where it's just battling opinions going back and forth like tennis - and being scored as if they were a sport. I feel as if I would like to read books that don't seem to exist, that explain the kind of countries there are now. I mean, when you read those Doge/database revelations about NGOs filtering tax dollars about until the source is disguised, then you understand why the Dem activists won't change - they will not get paid if they change - whereas before I simply had come to understand that they wouldn't change. (But most of us will. So that's OK.) But now I feel that I have to consider this hidden hand of the NGOs in everything, including the way other countries are developing or changing. If there were Doge Brothers everywhere what would we be seeing? And there will be Doge Brothers everywhere because they seem a result of AI (and the technical genius/ political will to use AI when it's new.) Meanwhile, by listening to Trump at rallies and, now, interviews, I know what he is doing - making it new to restore. But Putin? the EU? They're like old posters fading on a dirty wall. But - maybe that's just how Reuters makes them look.
I asked Grok about those hospital bills. I made up the example it used as cost and payment amounts for an example.
Key Concepts
1. Hospital Chargemaster (List Price): This is the starting point—the full, undiscounted amount a hospital “charges” for services (e.g., $100k in your example). It’s like a sticker price, often inflated, and rarely what anyone actually pays. It’s set by the hospital and includes everything: room fees, procedures, supplies, etc.
2. Allowed Amount: This is what Medicare (or an insurer) negotiates or approves as the reasonable cost for the services (e.g., $70k). It’s almost always lower than the chargemaster price because Medicare sets payment rates based on standardized formulas (like the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule or Diagnosis-Related Groups for hospital stays). The hospital agrees to this rate when they accept Medicare.
3. Medicare Payment: Medicare doesn’t pay the full allowed amount. It covers a portion (e.g., $20k in your example), typically 80% of the allowed amount after a deductible is met, though this can vary depending on the service and whether it’s inpatient (Part A) or outpatient (Part B).
4. Patient Responsibility: The patient covers the rest of the allowed amount (e.g., $1k). This could include deductibles, copays, or coinsurance. Anything beyond the allowed amount (like the $30k difference between $100k and $70k) is usually written off by the hospital—they can’t bill the patient for it under Medicare rules.
Also asked about the large write-off benefit to hospitals…
Bottom Line
The write-off isn’t a loss—it’s a calculated part of the revenue ecosystem. Hospitals benefit by securing Medicare’s volume and reliability, offsetting it with higher payments elsewhere, and maintaining a pricing structure that keeps them afloat. They’re not charities; they’ve built this into their business model.
Grok gave a lot more details in each query, fyi.
Hassayamper thinks that the crazy Don sitting in the oval office can cure our healthcare problems. That reminds William of the infamous liberal poster, Taj Mahal, who went to ground many years ago.
But nothing like single-payer health care will happen as long as Big Pharma, health Insurers and health providers keep the bitcoin flowing to Mar-a-Lago.
And disposing of Medicaid and Medicare won't save a damn dime. Reducing care to those with poor health and wealth will bring on the epidemics (TB, measles, meaner flu and Covid strains for now) and will put some very dedicated and talented folks who work in medicine in the unemployment lines. Besides, payments for services rendured under Medicare and Medicaid result in the lowest charges paid out to providers - that is your big government benefit.
HMO's are only for those can afford putting money away for harder times, but insurance modeled after today's religious programs such as Medi-Share could provide huge premium reductions.
So healthcare costs are a big game of pushing money around by whatever political party is in charge - after first paying the politicians. Obamacare, as now configured, is piling up a huge surge in bankruptcies which insures that really sick people have no medical coverage.
You're a disgusting excuse for a human being.
@Jim at, she knows. She revels in it.
Be quiet economists, CEOs, and logistics experts; a 6 time bankrupt reality TV star is talking...
Trump Plans to Impose 25% Tariff on Imported Vehicles ~ WSJ
Watch the master at work 🤣
That’s one way to close down the national security breach discussion. All at the expense of American consumers.
Photo #4: Fire in the Sky.
Gadfly said..." infamous liberal poster, Taj Mahal, who went to ground many years ago. "
Taj Mahal is a blues singer musician. You're thinking of Garage Mahal who used to comment here.
The left only care about destruction and petty "gotchas"
How did more mail-in ballots get cast for the Democrat in the PA special election than were sent out to be filled out?
Inga seems overly eager for the 4 missing soldiers to be found dead.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/4-soldiers-fort-stewart-still-112000537.html
Abacus Boy LLR-democratical Rich, Failed Predictor Of Doom and Bankruptcy For ALL Musk Cpmaines For Years: "Be quiet economists, CEOs, and logistics experts; a 6 time bankrupt reality TV star is talking..."
What is the total number of Trump Org companies that have existed over the last 50 years?
What was the number of Trump entity companies existing at the time of Trump's firat election win in 2016?
What % of Trump Org companies have utilized Chap 11 for re-organization?
What were the end results of those reorganizations?
In what business sectors did those reorganizations occur? What occurred for similar businesses in those sectors at those times? What global/macro events are relevant to include as significant factors?
Remember Althouse readers, LLR-democratical Rich claims to have been a lifelong republican and business wunderkind who was, in his own words, "in those rooms where those "big business" decisions have been made!" (LOL) yet not a single, solitary business or market prediction he has made in years has been borne out!
Not a single one.
Interestingly, every single prediction he has ever made at Althouse has mirrored perfectly whatever the New Soviet Democratical talking points of the day have been. Without exception. Hence the 100% Erroneous Prediction Rate.
LOL
Meade: "Inga seems overly eager for the 4 missing soldiers to be found dead."
The word you are looking in describing what the Althouse lefties are doing as they eagerly await unfortunate military training accident news is "salivating".
I sense Drago is once again — whistling in the forest here.
Tariffs will lead to inflation, inflation will lead to later rate cuts or even increasing rates. Increased uncertainty in the business community because of Trump’s erratic behavior will reduce investment, will reduce growth.
The possible outcome: beautiful stagflation, the bane ot the stock market. But first a rerun of 2022 to get the party started.
LLR-democratical Rich: "I sense Drago is once again — whistling in the forest here."
Your "sense's" have yet to steer you into a correct prediction even once.
I sense your "sense" will help you to maintain your very real but almost impossible to believe 100% Prediction Failire Rate.
Perhaps Rich will describe for us the financial killing he has made by shorting Tesla stock.
Any updates Rich? Or are you too busy purchasing another private jet on your Tesla shorts proceeds?
ref the missing soldiers in Lithuania, based on my experience as a mechanized infantryman: The M88 is basically an armored, tracked tow vehicle. It is meant to recover broken down tanks under some fire (it's not armored enough to survive tank projectiles, but it protects against bullets and artillery fragments). In combat, it's not really supposed to operate alone at the very front lines. But in a training exercise like this situation, it might get sent out alone for real-world mechanical problems.
Military mechanics are great mechanics, but not necessarily the most able at general soldiering. Clock-radio principle. So it's possible the guys got lost, or that the map didn't give enough information about terrain conditions.
The track height is about 4 feet, and the bottom of the vehicle is solid armor. All the air intakes and exhausts are on the top of the vehicle. It's not an amphibious vehicle, but it can deal with a lot of muddy/puddly conditions. So there might be a temptation to drive through a wet spot, just like regular car drivers are tempted to drive through flooded underpasses.
Once the M88 was suddenly in deep water, the situation can get really bad really fast. The crew compartment is really big, because it's meant to cram in the crew of the broken-down vehicle it's towing. But, because the M88 is not really a fighting vehicle, there are not a lot of hatches to get out fast. And north European early springtime isn't warm (today's high in Vilnius was 50F), and it's a peacetime exercise, so the crew might have been tempted to ride with most of the hatches closed. Worst-case scenario is that 2 of the 4 guys were maybe bunked out in the crew compartment, so they had to wake up and make their way to a hatch to get out. Even the 2 driving and commanding the vehicle, who would have their heads out of open hatches, might not have been able to react fast enough to get out. Especially since you're trained to get down in the vehicle if you think you will roll over. If they suddenly had the ground cut out from under them, they might have treated it like a rollover, then had to fight their way back out of cold water out of the hatch. Or they might have done the right thing and gone into the crew compartment to help their mates.
Of course, if it actually did roll over (like if the ground gave way only on one side), they were really screwed. Maybe that's what happened - I find it hard to believe that in a small, modern country like Lithuania, they couldn't get military, fire, or police divers to the scene in a couple of hours to see what is going on under the water. If the M88 is rightside up, the divers could pretty quickly determine there are four bodies, or no bodies. If it's upside down, it might be harder. The top hatches would be inaccessible, and the side hatch might also be blocked, depending on the attitude of the vehicle. So all they would know at this point is they've got an upside down quiet vehicle.
If the guys did get out, they've got the problem of being in cold water, and even if they get to land, they're cold and wet. Probably with no map, no military radio, possibly with civilian smartphones, but those might be waterlogged or physically broken. By the clock-radio principle, mechanics don't get a lot of survival training. But they do have more common sense and improvisational ability than the average infantryman. So they might have figured out a way to get to dry land and at least pile up shrubbery or something for insulation. But if they did that, they apparently didnt do it near their vehicle.
And there is the possibility that they wandered into Belarus. Although I don't understand why the Belarussians wouldnt immediately announce such a catch. Unless they panicked and shot the Americans.
Just some thoughts.
JSM
Have you ever observed a "green flash" during your sunrise outings? I've been looking for the green flash at sunset into the Pacific here, but have never seen one. I've seen pics though from a local who posts on Instagram.
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