I first caught up with this article on MedPage Today, “Doc Blows Whistle on Cigna.” I also read the ProPublic report. Both are reporting on denial of claims before and after treatment and the productivity of claims reviewers. Additionally, the report discusses the use of labor (nurses, etc.) outside of the US to evaluate claims and their errors. All of these attempts are examples of what is going on to cuts costs by reducing the time to decide on important procedures and functions which require a critical analysis.

The odd part of this is the reports do not appear to be just talking about MA plans.

Doc Blows Whistle on Cigna

Cigna increased its efforts to speed up claims denial by using new software and performance measures that pressured

Dahlia Lithwick and Joseph Stern

as taken from Slate

Good read as one can see how the SCOTUS 5 or 6 are twisting the logic of Constitution first and portraying the president into something more reasonable. Military swears first to the Constitution. This is a very strange read for myself. Others may not find it so strange and such is open to discussion.

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Mollified themselves with vague promises of when the rubber hit the road, even the ultraconservative Federalist Society justices of the Roberts court would put democracy before party whenever they were finally confronted with the legal effort to hold Donald Trump accountable for Jan. 6. There were promising signs:

They had, after all, refused to wade into the Trumpian efforts

Do you, does anyone, really believe trump gives a damn if he is fined $9,000? That is not a threat to him. And what jail cell, in what jail will they put this threatening president in? I know one county jail, Cook County Jail in Chicago. Let him mingle with the general population. Let him bluster with them.

This is a problem with trump. He knows nothing will happen to him. Those fines will disappear and he will walk. He will not go to jail. His towel boys will get him out. They will scream to Alito.

Some WSJ for you. Judge Fines Trump for Contempt in Hush-Money Case, Threatens Jail Time, WSJ, James Fanelli and Jacob Gerschman.

A New York judge on Tuesday fined Donald Trump $9,000 and threatened to throw him in jail for repeatedly violating a

By Steve Hutkins

Save The Post Office

USPS: For those who are wondering, DFA is “Delivering for America.” It consists of various initiatives, some of which have been initiated and some which have not. The initiatives are found in the Table of Contents on Page 1 listed as Strategies in the Delivering for America document. The failure of timely delivery of the mail in Richmond and now Atlanta utilizing RPDCs has caused concern. Both Richmond and Atlanta have experienced decreases in timely delivery.

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Tensions between the Postal Service (USPS) and the Postal Regulatory Commission are intensifying. On Friday, the Commission issued an order directing the Postal Service to file a request for an advisory opinion on Delivering for America

By Les Leopold

Chelsea Green Publishing

Interesting book I just started to touch upon. Book review by Paul Prescod. Last section touches upon why layoffs may happen . . . Stock Buybacks and Deregulation.

Across the political spectrum, it seems as if the right to decent employment has disappeared from the agenda. Wars, natural disasters, and Donald Trump’s antics grab headlines while the closing of a major factory doesn’t register a blip. Even on the Left, a fatalistic acceptance of layoffs has numbed us to the human misery caused by contemporary capitalism’s widespread job insecurity.

Wall Street’s War on Workers: How Mass Layoffs and Greed Are Destroying the Working Class and What to Do About It, a new book by labor educator Les

Matteo Wong

The Atlantic

Abbreviated take at Angry Bear on what is happening at Tesla.

Presently, the media has not been to kind to Tesla and its founder Elon Musk. The latest in The Atlantic gives a run down on the past and where Musk may take Tesla in the future. It sounds and looks better than what Tesla has been experiencing.

Of late, Tesla’s cars have come to seem a bit hazardous. The self-driving features have been linked to hundreds of accidents and more than a dozen deaths. Then, earlier this month, the company recalled its entire fleet of Cybertrucks. A mechanical problem that trapped its gas pedal, as InsideEVs put it, “could potentially turn the stainless steel trapezoid into a 6,800-pound land missile.”

Along the way,

By Lloyd Alter

Carbon Upfront!

The Toronto Star leads today with a story, “Ripe for a challenge,” in which climate change reporter Kate Allen describes attempts to grow strawberries indoors in Canada “as red-ripe and juicy as if they came out of a sunny field in July.” Canadians import C$6.2 billion more fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables than our food exports, “but a pandemic, wars, and the steadily thumping drumbeat of climate change have all exposed the fragility of this system.”

Many of the companies that anticipated a cannabis boom after legalization are pivoting to berries, hoping to attract funds from an X-PRIZE style competition funded by the Weston Family Foundation, the same family that owns the Loblaws grocery chain that we

You gotta be old enough to remember what took place in the sixties and into the seventies with regard to protesting. In 1970 when I was bathing in and drinking the Camp Lejeune water, we were selected to be trained in riot control. JIC the protestors, the student protesters were a bit rambunctious in Washington D.C. All the better we were not called out. Still the same fears we are seeing today on college campuses. Similar right-wing dialogue by government officials and groups advocating for retaliation on protestors.

And today’s reactions to protests on campuses?

Interrogations of university leaders spearheaded by conservative congressional representatives. Calls from right-wing senators for troops to intervene in campus demonstrations.

This is a rehash of what was going on in Flint from 2014 onward. It is mostly what I had seen, read about, and wrote about from 2014 till 2022. Republicans were in control of the state during most of this time if not all of it. Attorneys will lay claim to 1/3rd of the payout. If the state gov had been more active in resolving the issue, I am sure the attorney fees would have been less.

Article by Gabrielle Gurley with a lot of input by a former Michigan resident.

The American Prospect

Veolia North America (VNA) offers no insights into its role as an advisor to Flint Michigan. This even after agreeing to a $25million in preserving the health of Flint, Michigan’s to avoid a second high-profile jury trial over its role as an adviser to Flint.

According to The Hill the New FAFSA forms were supposed to be easier and shorter. Shorter yes, nut not so easy. There is a list of 2024-24 FAFSA issues which are confounding parents and students attempting to complete the FAFSA so as to be eligible for student aid. FAFSA forms were changed in 2023 and were supposed to be available in October 2023. Availability was delayed till December 2023. When finally released there were complications with the forms being taken down and applicants and parents being unable to fix errors.

The new forms may be shorter and better for students and parents but the difficulties encountered are causing both to worry. The one saving grace in Arizona being Governor Hobbs setting aside funds to assist in filling out FAFSA

By Lora Kelly

The Atlantic

A plan to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid process, better known as FAFSA has been a few years in the making. In 2020, as part of a spending bill, Congress ordered the Department of Education to create a shorter version of the FAFSA form. The new application would reduce the maximum number of questions from 108 to 36.

Rose Horowitch writes, the goal was to make things easier for applicants, increase the number of students who could receive federal aid, and resulting in “a rare win for bipartisan and common sense governance.” In recent months, the new FAFSA rollout has met roadblocks and delays at almost every turn. The form was to launch in October. It didn’t open up until the very end of

A high court decision in favor of Idaho puts at risk the federal government’s ability to set national environmental, labor and consumer protection standards.

by Merrill Goozner

Angry Bear can not add to Merrill’s remarks on Idaho’s stance banning abortion in almost all circumstances and their claims to preempt the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. Until it is them who are endangered will we find the rules (which they are) will change. Sad . . .

GoozNews

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this morning in the federal government’s suit against Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act,” which bans abortion in almost all circumstances and claims to preempt the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.

By Andrea Hsu

National Public Radio

The Starbucks case is more a battle over which approach Appeals courts should use when they consider requests for injunctions like this one over labor violations. The Supreme Court appears to be weighing in on their decisions. The impact of the Supreme Court decision will weigh heavily on unions and labor.

Five Appeals court use a two-prong test:

– Is there “reasonable cause” to believe an unfair labor practice has occurred, and

– Determine whether granting an injunction would be “just and proper.”

This to determine whether there is a foundation for the complaints by the seven Starbucks baristas.

Four other Appeals Courts use a four-prong test;

– Is the unfair labor practice case is likely

It is getting serious now. Kroger is willing to sell off more stores in order to consolidate with Albertsons. The one thing we keep on seeing is the manipulation of supply chain due to circumstance to achieve manufacturing shortfall, and influence, to maximize profits. Much of what we have and are experiencing was avoidable. The tools exist to give better perspectives of what is going on from start to finish of product. As you read through my telling of what I see, you will get near the end and run into a link to a Vox article. It supports what I am saying and have seen over the decades.

A quarter of a century ago, Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation called attention to the acceleration of corporate, quasi-monopolistic control of America’s food

Https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/04/11/homeowners-face-a-25trn-bill-from-climate-change

By Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early

Washington Monthly

Trump has mocked veterans and privatized their health care. Biden honors them but hasn’t challenged Trump’s privatization policies. Currently, they are moving more and more veterans to commercial healthcare. This rather than restoring VA healthcare to a better place for veterans to be and at a lower cost. Think of Medicare Advantage.

From mocking John McCain’s military service to disparaging American soldiers who died abroad as “losers” and “suckers,” Donald Trump has shown plenty of disrespect to veterans over the years. By contrast, Joe Biden consistently valorizes military service, including that of his beloved late son, Beau. So, it’s natural for Democrats to hope that maybe this time

By Tom Dinger

The Bell

A commentary by an acquaintance of mine and from years ago. I believe there is only one person who might recognize the author. He was well liked amongst his fellow writers.

Americans Doubting the Big Bang Is a Healthy Thing

A new Associated Press-GfK poll asked approximately one thousand U.S. adults to rate their confidence in science and medicine.  The results showed surprising skepticism in various scientific concepts that many/most scientists consider established fact.  People were most likely to accept practical matters, such as smoking causing cancer or antibiotics causing more resistant bacteria.  More theoretical concepts, such as global warming, dating the age of the Earth, or the Big Bang creation of

By Laurelle Stelle

msn.com, The Cool Down

Nice read on geothermal energy produced from pumping water into fracked rock formations in deep dry oil wells.

In Texas, several innovative new companies are combining clean energy technology and the expertise of former oil and gas industry employees to create a whole new generation of geothermal power plants, Grist reported.

Geothermal energy is a promising source of power because it’s so dependable. The Earth’s natural warmth heats underground water reservoirs, sometimes to several hundred degrees. That hot water can can produce steam and power generators. The cold water is then pumped back underground.

Unlike solar power, which is only available when the sun’s out, and wind power, which

By annie

annieasksyou . . .

Angry Bear lacks a woman writer. In the past we had several excellent writers. They offer a different perspective than my writing gymnastics or Joels for that matter. I am happy to have Joel offer up his words on other topics. If you are bold enough to plunge into Angry Bear’s environment, we would love to have you aboard.

Meanwhile, enjoy Annie from Annie Asks You on this Sunday morning.

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And JUST IN: very strong statement from the Biden campaign about tonight’s special election results. Republicans keep making the lives of women harder by restricting basic bodily autonomy—& voters see right through it & are kicking them out. https://t.co/lfOUuGwH2x

— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) March 27, 2024

Visiting writer’s commentary on Sovereign Citizens by Infidel753 from his own Blog of similar name.

Readers may be unfamiliar with the “sovereign citizen” movement, a fringe ideological belief system which asserts (for complex, fatuous, and extremely boring reasons) that certain everyday laws either do not exist, are not real laws, or at least don’t apply to individuals who assert some imaginary special status that makes them exempt.

In practice this seems to apply mostly to traffic laws and personal identification.  The “sovereign citizens” (often abbreviated “sovcits”) generally insist that they do not need driver’s licenses, car insurance, license plates, etc and that the police do not have jurisdiction over them.  The “logic” behind this

By Katherine Bindley

Wall Street Journal

AB: I have a partial subscription to WSJ which I keep on forgetting. This article popped up. I agree with the author, the LED Headlights are too bright. Not only are these my thoughts. Mechanical Engineer Victor Morgan, in South Carolina has a light meter on his dashboard. He has been taking readings of the glare from no less than 156 oncoming cars and analyzing the contents of FMVSS 108 table XIX. FMVSS 108 table XIX is a spreadsheet of NHTSA requirements. While the NHTSA says the glare is within limits, Victor says; “The real-world glare far exceeds the maximum NHTSA glare.” 

Not a surprise for me. Last prescription has a yellow tint to the lens. This seems to help.

I also find the higher the

Debra A. Pinals

The Pew Charitable Trusts

It has been a while since I talked about prisons. I have been in each level, up to a level 4 as a visitor. Spend hours talking to a prisoner. Eight hours out and 16 locked down at that level. They remain in their seats and you go to the canteen machines to buy the candy. It is not pretty and it never was to be a solution for their being there. The author touches upon those with mental illness who most of the time go to prison. Little chance of getting the care they need to resolve their issues. If you have a problem with those incarcerated, don’t be rude.

Many of them probably never needed to be there.

– A man I’ll call Ty is 52 years old. During his 20s, he was dishonorably discharged from the

‘Tears me up’

Wesley Stenzel

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

It was either talk about the dumb-ass state of Arizona where I now live. Or Kareem talking about why Dwayne he is not endorsing Joe Biden again.

SUMMARY: Dwayne Johnson endorsed Joe Biden during his 2020 election campaign — but now he says he regrets that decision, and won’t be making political endorsements again anytime soon.

The Black Adam star expressed remorse about his political past and cast skepticism on the state of the nation in an interview with Fox News’ Will Cain this week. “Am I happy with the state of America right now? Well, that answer’s no,” he said. “Do I believe we’re gonna get better? I believe in that. I’m an optimistic guy, and I believe we can get better.”

BBC and unknown author

msn.com/BBC

This kind of kool and interesting.

An ancient lone wych elm whose remote Highland location has protected it from Dutch elm disease has been joined by dozens of seedlings for the first time in hundreds of years.

The elm – dubbed the Last Ent of Glen Affric – was Scotland’s Tree of the Year in 2019.

Ents are mythological tree creatures from fantasy writer JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings. They were the forest guardians. If you have been watching and listening carefully you would have heard of the Ent called Treebeard.

Lord of the Rings: 5 Weirdest Things About Treebeard & Ents’ Bodies, cbr.com, Blake Hawkins.

Just to be careful I am not accused of poaching, I have included the article above

Suzanne Blake

Newsweek

Nothing unique here. Just another Texas screwup while trying to eliminate people from state and federal programs. The problem being they mistakenly injure the innocents. No problem though, it happens in other states or so Texans claim.

Hundreds of Texas seniors lost their Medicare benefits after Texas Health and Human Services made an error in the Medicare Savings Program.

“Medicare is health insurance for people age 65+ and certain people with disabilities. The Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) are a sub-set of Medicaid, designed to help people with low income afford their Medicare costs.”

The agency confirmed that 350 seniors had been removed from the state’s Medicare Savings Program, which is estimated to have

Prof. Heather Cox Richardson

Letters from an American

When Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed a joint meeting of Congress today, he tried to remind lawmakers of who Americans are.

“The U.S. shaped the international order in the postwar world through economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power,” he reminded them. “It championed freedom and democracy. It encouraged the stability and prosperity of nations, including Japan. And, when necessary, it made noble sacrifices to fulfill its commitment to a better world.”

He explained the bigger picture.

“The United States policy was based on the premise that humanity does not want to live oppressed by an authoritarian state. A state where you are tracked and surveilled

Robert Reich

Roberts Substack

Robert Reich’s update on the upcoming criminal trial on election interference.

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Trump wants you to think that all he did was try to cover up a sexual affair. Wrong.

Trump’s first criminal trial, the first criminal trial of a former president, ever — is scheduled to begin Monday. The 34-count business falsification case may be the only case against Trump to reach a verdict before the November election.

Many people I speak with are worried this is the weakest of Trump’s four pending criminal trials. They think so because it has to do with an illicit affair.

Wrong. This case is commonly called the “hush money” case. It is referred to as Trump’s “coverup of a sex scandal,” this way of

Consumer Price Index – March 2024 (bls.gov)

“The BLS index for shelter rose in March, as did the index for gasoline. Combined, these two indexescontributed over half of the monthly increase in the index for all items. The energy index rose 1.1percent over the month. The food index rose 0.1 percent in March. The food at home index wasunchanged, while the food away from home index rose 0.3 percent over the month.

Good reads on the March BLS Report.

Tags: inflation, March 2024

More semiconductor news. Leading off, TSMC plant delays in Arizona are disappearing.

In spite of earlier delays, the Arizona TSMC plant is now expected to be operational by end of 2024. Pilot Production to prove the manufacturing process will start mid-April 2024.

Three months earlier, TSMC announced further delays at its $40 billion Arizona fab. TSMC has now said the plant is expected to be operating at full capacity by the end of 2024. What a surprise . . .

The announcement comes several weeks after it first reported TSMC will be awarded more than $5 billion in federal grants under the US CHIPS and Science Act. Maybe there is a connection?

The two plants TSMC is building will produce 4nm and 3nm semiconductors (not the latest 2nm).

Biden is at it again. This time with Intel in AZ.

With all the issues with passing a budget since earlier last year, I wonder how Biden and the Dems got this out of Congress. Must be some pretty good pork involved with these programs to get approvals. Companies are kicking in $240 billion in investments to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States since the President took office.

Good move by Dems in a swing state.

If you head north on highway 347 where it becomes Queen Creek Road, just past I10 into Chandler, you can see the giant cranes off in the distance which are used to build a new Semiconductor plant. Make the left turn on to Price Road and you will go past the companies aligned with modern day electronics. Many of