Its quite simple. This law will cause an increase in dividend yeilds measured in small fractions of cents for companies that provide financial services, and the cost is to ruin people who have been the victims of severe unpredicatable catastrophies.

In other words, they are fucking you up the ass, and you are smiling about it all the way.

[ Be fair, the vast majority of people don't even know this happened, so they really have no opinion on it. They're getting fucked in the ass while they focus on other shit, like American Idol, or being poor already.

Anyway, you're misunderstanding, I think, the right's conception of being responsible, which is essentially that success is the measure of responsibility. It's a nice standard because being unprepared for the worst is the same as mismanaging. If you're not successful, it's your fault. You may not have been able to forsee the medical emergency, but you should have planned for it anyway. -k]

MarketWatch: Illness And Injury As Contributors To Bankruptcy -- Himmelstein et al., 10.1377/hlthaff.w5.63 -- Health Affairs

] In conclusion, it is important that developed countries
] and WIPO acknowledge that IP protection is an important
] policy instrument for developing countries, one that
] needs to be used carefully. While the claimed benefits of
] strong IP protection for developing countries are a
] matter of debate - and nearly always in the distant
] future - such protection invariably entails substatial
] real an immediate costs for these countries. In
] formulating its IP policy, therefore, each country needs
] to have sufficient flexibility so that the cost of IP
] protection does not outweigh the benefits. It is clearly
] in the interest of developing countries that WIPO
] recognizes this and formulates its work program
] accordingly - including its 'technical assistance' - and
] not limit its activities, as it currently does, to the
] blind promotion of increasingly higher levels of IP
] protection. This is where WIPO, as a specialized UN
] agency, can make a major impact - by truly incorporating
] the development dimension into its mission - in letter
] and in spirit, so that it is appropriately reflected in
] all its instruments. Certainly it will result in a
] revitalisation of WIPO as an organisation sensitive to
] integrating the development concerns of developing
] countries into all areas of its work.

[ Very cogent words from India... I hope everyone's listening... -k]

[A2k] India's Statement at WIPO

] After the panel, I discussed this issue with Kenn Cukier
] of The Economist, who has followed the development of
] this technology for a while and has a good perspective on
] how we reached the current state. It seems that the
] decision to use contactless technology was made without
] fully understanding its consequences, relying on
] technical assurances from people who had products to
] sell. Now that the problems with that decision have
] become obvious, it's late in the process and would be
] expensive and embarrassing to back out. In short, this
] looks like another flawed technology procurement program.

Freedom to Tinker: Why Use Remotely-Readable Passports?

] a watch designed to supposedly wake you up while at the
] lightest part of your sleep cycle leaving you completely
] rested sounds a lot like paid-advertising poppycock.
] Refreshingly enough, (note the subtle pun) the
] Sleeptracker more than lives up to its namesake and
] received quite a dreamy (omg again!) review from Gear
] Live.

[ I can't help but be skeptical. Still, I must admit, the notion of feeling refreshed in the morning is a pleasant one to contemplate. -k]

Sleepwatcher Alarm Watch Reviewed (Verdict: Fantastic) : Gizmodo

] Over the next ten years, I predict, the mainstream of the
] environmental movement will reverse its opinion and
] activism in four major areas: population growth,
] urbani­zation, genetically engineered organisms, and
] nuclear power.

Environmental Heresies

] The Long Tail is about the shift from hits to niches.
] Several readers have asked what this means for the future
] of mass (hit-driven, mainstream) culture in America.
] The short answer is that it will not only get less mass,
] but that this is a trend that's already well underway.

This long tail blog is very good. Worth following possibly.

[ Yes, the original article in wired is excellent, and this blog is a continuation of the examination begun there. I think there's a lot of interesting thoughts to be had in this area. -k]

The Long Tail Blog

] Akron, Ohio-based Ecology Coatings has developed a family
] of "liquid solids" that are cured by exposure to
] ultraviolet light for a few seconds. Made up of nano-size
] particles (molecules measuring less than 1 billionth of a
] meter), the liquid solids developed by the company--along
] with similar substances made by rivals--could possibly
] eliminate a lot of the expense involved in applying
] protective coatings to electronic gadgets or patio
] furniture. It also doesn't give off hazardous fumes.

[ Rad! -k]

Nanotech company aims to put paint in the past | CNET News.com

] In Japan, you'll be able to watch live baseball games on
] your mobile, this season. But in an animated version.
]
]
] This means that avatars take the place of players and
] action is transformed, play by play into a cartoon like
] environment. This includes the roar of the crowd,
] scoreboard, the pitch, the strike and trajectory of the
] ball.

[ Theoretically, this is a bandwidth saver... leave the processing on the phone and send the play by play in a simple format. Really, kind of a cool idea... -k]

Live Baseball for Mobile Phones

] China blames Japan for tensions
]
] Chinese authorities have said Japan must do more to heal
] ties after anti-Japanese demonstrations across China
] turned increasingly violent.
]
]
] A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the state of
] relations between the two countries was not China's
] fault.

[ Oi. -k]

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China blames Japan for tensions

] A French court has upheld a ban sought by the Catholic
] Church on a clothing advertisement based on Leonardo da
] Vinci's painting Christ's Last Supper.
]
]
] The display "insults the religious feeling of Catholics",
] the Paris appeals court ruled on Friday.

[ Uh, ok. I mean, I guess in a country that's 70% catholic it's not that surprising, but at the same time, shut up. If it's offensive, don't shop there. There are damn few things I'd condone censoring, and this is not on the list. -k]

BBC NEWS | Europe | French Christ advert ban upheld