Smiling Kevin's

President Obama Hates Old People

Kevin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:49:00 GMT

How Government-Run Health Care Will Reduce Health Care Benefits You Currently Receive

"Maurice Engleman, 82 ... says the controversial Medicare Advantage program ... helped him beat cancer ... Engleman, who was diagnosed with tongue cancer last year ... [said,] ‘I don't believe Medicare would have taken care of the kind of services I required.'"

MANY OF YOUR FELLOW LOW-INCOME SENIORS BENEFIT FROM MEDICARE ADVANTAGE ...

Nearly Half Of Seniors Like You On Medicare Advantage Have "Incomes Below $20,000." "Among Medicare beneficiaries in all areas (regardless of whether a Medicare Advantage plan was available), 18 percent were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Forty-eight percent of beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans had incomes below $20,000. For comparison, 44 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries in the original fee-for-service program had incomes below $20,000."

Medicare Advantage Growing And "Making Extra Benefits Available" To More Of Your Fellow Seniors. "The relatively generous payment system for Medicare Advantage has encouraged greater plan participation in recent years, significantly expanding the number of private plans offered throughout the country and making extra benefits available to more beneficiaries."

BUT OBAMA'S CUTS TO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE WILL REDUCE YOUR HEALTH CARE BENEFITS

Your Medicare Advantage Program Is Obama's Top Target When It Comes To Paying For His Health Care Experiment. "The biggest savings he proposes, $177 billion, would come from having insurance companies bid for government reimbursements for offering private plans, known as Medicare Advantage, to senior citizens."

Obama Blasts Medicare Advantage As "Costly And Redundant." "About 10.2 million Medicare recipients are in Medicare Advantage ... the government pays insurers a set amount per Medicare beneficiary. Obama ridiculed it as costly and redundant ...."

And Obama's Cuts To Medicare Advantage Will Reduce Your Benefits. "Mr. Obama has repeatedly said, ‘Nobody is talking about cutting Medicare benefits.' At the same time, he wants to eliminate what he describes as ‘unwarranted subsidies' and giveaways to private Medicare Advantage plans, which use some of the money to provide extra benefits."

Ah, I see. Yes, this is something to be concerned about for sure. The GOP have caught the Democrats trying to cut back on some wasteful, redundant programs in the federal government and are duly alerting the senior citizens that some of these proposed Medicare decreases could adversely affect their medical care.

Although, now, to be fair, this does raise a rather important question that needs to be addressed. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Are you kidding me? Seriously? I got pissed off before when the Democrats were the ones that had no policy except for "the opposite of what Bush wants" and now I'm doubly pissed off that it appears to be the GOP's plan.

Is this really what the Republican party is about? Is it? Are we in favor now of more Medicare? When it's proposed that the scope of the federal government be lessened (even if it is possibly a preamble to enlargening - though that won't happen) is it now our job to run to the seniors? Should I be working on the elderly people I know, telling them that President Obama wants them to eat dog food and take away their Medicare? Or is this all just part of a grand plan to confuse the hell out of the AARP?

I'm sorry, this is just stupid. I'd rather the party stood for something and stuck to it than just blindly opposing whatever President Obama suggests and saying whatever nonsense it takes to win.

Wil Wheaton on Twitter

Kevin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:41:50 GMT

Wil Wheaton on Twitter:

I was an early adopter for Twitter, I mean, relative to when Twitter blew up and I thought that it was this really cool, new way to communicate with my friends and with just random people. I come from an improv comedy background and Twitter's like this giant global game of "Yes, and..." that we can play together - it's really fun. And I was really annoyed by the explosion of kind of like big-deal mainstream celebrities who I really thought were sort of like invading our space without getting - without, like, making an effort to understand it. And then I was even more annoyed with the big mainstream media, especially CNN, for trying to take Twitter and turn it into something that it wasn't. And I think it is an enormous testament to the fundamental mindset of we, like Twitter nerds that have been using this from the beginning that we survived that, like giant explosive 15 minutes of Twitter mania. And it's great for people like us and for a show like The Guild that we can completely circumvent the traditional old rules of communication for media and go directly to interact with the audience.

Exactly, yes. I would just add as an example, Oprah's much-hyped joining of Twitter. Her first post was predictably tone-deaf:

HI TWITTERS . THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY .

Let's see. Calling people "Twitters" for some reason? Check. All caps? Of course. Confusing spaces before periods? You bet. There's even a self-conscious reference to Twitter as being "really 21st Century".

Now I'm not just picking out minor things for no reason - it shows exactly what he was talking about. She (or whomever was writing for her) showed no attempt to learn the rules or understand what she was using. It was popular and that was the end of it.

To which you may say, "invading our space? It's not some elite thing; can't Oprah use it if she wants?" Yes, of course. And since creating her account she has used it fully, sending a whopping 56 tweets to her almost 2 million followers. 56 in about three months and nothing since mid July. To contrast, Wil Wheaton has sent 56 in the last week, Felicia Day in 5 days, and Alyssa Milano in 3.

Pat Buchanan on Discrimination

Kevin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:44:45 GMT

Says Pat:

White men were 100% of the people that wrote the Constitution, 100% of the people that signed the Declaration of Independence, 100% of the people who died at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, probably close to 100% of the people who died at Normandy. This has been a country built basically by white folks, who were 90% of the nation in 1960 when I was growing up and the other 10% were African-Americans who had been discriminated against. That's why.

To be fair, there were probably some non-white people that would have been willing to help with the Declaration of Independence and such if it wasn't for the fact that they were only considered 3/5 of a person and would have been horribly beaten and stuff. You know, minor barriers like that.

A Code Snippet

Kevin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:24:35 GMT

namespace Tuttle
{
    class Kate
    {
        float m_energy;

        private void setLocation(object sender, LocationArgs e)
        {
            if (e.Location is LocationTypes.Sleeping)
            {
                float energy_expended = 0.0;

                while (m_energy >= 0)
                {
                    this.Vocal(VocalTypes.Scream, VolumeLevels.Max, TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1.0), null, energy_expended);
                    m_energy -= energy_expended;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

What I Did on My (Second) Summer Vacation

Kevin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:58:32 GMT

Leesa had wanted, for a while, to take our twin nephews on an overnight trip somewhere. Their fifth birthday this week provided an opportunity so we decided to take them to the Wilderness at the Smokies resort near Pigeon Forge. We'd also decided to take them to Dixie Stampede to "eat and see horses". I can only assume that they knew the event would be "eat and (see horses)" and not "(eat and see) horses".

Warning: the following is not necessarily interesting or funny. You've been warned. tl;dr version: things happened, everyone had fun, and five-year-olds can be a handful.

The first challenge, of course, is the drive up there. Now it's only 3 hours with no stops (and no construction or ice in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park), but we knew there'd be no way we'd make that. So we had to keep them occupied for a likely 4 - 5 hour drive.

Like most parents, I imagine, I want my children to have more than I did. But from that springs the phrase "In my day we had it a lot harder." Now, even living in Missouri, I never had to trudge uphill in the snow to get to school. We had buses, after all. But what we didn't have was anything remotely entertaining to do on long car rides. We had, at the boys' disposal, on-the-headrest DVD players, two iPods, an iPhone, and we stopped at Wal*Mart to get toys and it still all lasted about 20 minutes before they were bored.

Leesa had apparently put a couple new games on her iPhone just for the boys to play. One of them was of one of our least favorite characters, but one of the boys' favorites - Spongebob. Now calling it a game is a bit of a misnomer as it quickly became clear that it was more of a soundboard. All it consists of is buttons to make Spongebob say one thing or another, each more obnoxious than the last. And there were only about 6 different sounds. And you could chain them together so that it said the same thing dozens of times in a row. It's really a wonder that it lasted as long as it did.

After leaving the house we stopped off at McDonald's to get some breakfast. This is, please note, about 8 minutes away from the house. Upon pulling into the drive-thru, Joseph made a shocked, indignant noise and declared "There's no horses here!" It's at that point that we began to suspect that we might be in trouble.

We arrived safely, only having to stop once or twice for bathroom breaks and gas. Once we got there they boys wanted to go to the outdoor waterpark (the one attached to the building we were staying at - the other one across the street has the indoor waterpark).

On the way there we came across a small arcade that caught the boys' attention right away. That was tabled briefly while we went on to the waterpark.

The hotel part of the resort is pretty well done, excepting our bathroom door that inexplicably did not latch or lock (to be fair, the latter could be a result of the former). I'm not sure how this could happen given the thousands (or tens of thousands) of doors that had to be built into the hotels but then I guess the laws of probability would dictate that at least a couple would be bad. Still, the hotel itself was nice. And the waterpark was very well-designed too. It was well laid out with plenty of lifeguards present. The play areas for the little kids were surprisingly intricate with all kinds of pull ropes, dam switches, valve wheels, etc. to divert water all over the playground-sized complexes. The problem came in integrating the two. It's almost as if there was no thought given to the fact that the people in the hotel would be using the waterpark and vice versa even though the waterparks are only open to guests of the hotel.

After swimming for a while we went back upstairs to get ready for dinner. I took the boys back to try out the arcade while Leesa got ready. Unfortunately they're now old enough to know whether they're actually playing a game or just pushing buttons while the demo plays, and they loved to play the games. Or, at least, for a minute or two. Jacob would generally get a feel for the goal of the game and try to do it while Joseph would just randomly push buttons, lose interest, and run off to some other game while crying "More! More!"

We arrived just in time to catch the beginning of the pre-show at Dixie Stampede. We waited in the large room outside of the main arena while they finished. Essentially it's 4-5 men playing assorted fiddles, banjos, etc. They play the expected "traditional" songs like Buffalo Gals and such. It got a little weird when they went on to Aerosmith and I thought for sure I was hearing things when they started playing, in a very up-tempo manner, Eleanor Rigby. Towards the end they did a few announcements, including wishing the boys a happy birthday. They glanced towards the stage (we couldn't actually see it where we were sitting) and nodded as if it was to be expected that they would know it was their birthday.

We left early as the boys were done eating and they lost interest in the horses. We'd seen ads for MagiQuest posted everywhere and it looked like something they might like. When we got there we found it was a complex of several attractions so we got tickets to all four. The main feature is MagiQuest itself which is sort of like electronic LARPing for kids. The basic idea is that you're given a wand about the size of a large carrot and you use it to get gold, do quests, get experience, etc.

We got our wands and were ushered into the orientation area. There a guy in full wizard's robes had us all stand there and watch an introduction. It was a good balance of indifference and fantasy, I thought. Really. You don't want too much of either - just a nice happy medium between some guy with a cigarette pointing to the screen with a "Welcomemagipleasebequietandlistentothewizardmaster" and someone who has everyone put on a pointed hat and sing along. When they handed us a book to read that explains how it all worked and started in on just how complex the whole thing is I could tell Leesa was having second thoughts about it. The boys were just eager to get in and do something, quests be damned. The wands clearly have some kind of spring-loaded relay in them so if you flick it at something it activates and sends a signal. You're supposed to go and find chests, open them with the wand to get gold, find hidden runes and such and complete quests.

Course as soon as Joseph realized he could make chests open just by flicking his wand at them there was no restraining him. He went off flicking his wand and yelling nonsense "magical words" at everything in sight - whether someone else was currently doing the same or not. Needless to say we didn't use up the entire hour allotted us but turned our wands back in after 20 minutes or so.
After that we tried the mirror maze. Before entering they issued us tissue paper-like gloves to wear. It turns out that this is a very good idea. The maze itself wasn't too difficult to navigate as it really only had one path through but it was still tricky sometimes and I jumped once when it looked like someone was coming up behind me (it was me, of course). Joseph freaked out some in one area where the floor was mirrored as well but we got him through it.

Finally pretty tired (and plenty stuffed) we went back to the hotel. Leesa had anticipated having to sleep with the boys in their bed while I slept in the other one but was adamant that she would not sleep in the middle. She turned out to be mistaken.

The waterpark allows guests to visit on both check-in and check-out days so we checked out and then hit the indoor waterpark again. There we spent most of our time in the "kids" area, running back to the wave pool whenever the waves started up again.

As we were leaving the waterpark we found that Joseph had managed to injure himself with what looked like a small abrasion on his toe - probably from stubbing it on the concrete. He was upset so I took him to the first aid station to get a bandage so he'd calm down. No one was there so I'd almost convinced him that it was nothing when someone returned. We got a little bandage for him but it turned into a whole thing when I had to fill out a report on the injury with name, address, etc. and give them my assurance that I didn't think he had to see a doctor. Probably a standard thing they have to do but Joseph was far more terrified of this than of the initial injury - a fact he demonstrated when he started running away from the guy on his injured toe. He must have thought he'd have to get a shot or an amputation or something.

We managed to get them out of the waterpark with the bribe of going to the arcade in this building. This one had machines that gave tickets. Jacob was playing a game and hit the ticket jackpot - winning him 1000 tickets. In the end we had about 1300, which they split, and they agonized over choosing the prizes from the false teeth and moustache combs.

To get them from that we took them to play mini-golf. The MagiQuest thing had an indoor blacklight Pirate Golf course that we'd already gotten tickets for. Jacob did pretty well, actually trying to hit the ball in the holes and taking the course in order. Joseph went straight for the big pirate ship and just wanted to play in it.

The bribe to leave there, I believe, was a milkshake, so with that we finally got back on the road to head home and see our little girls again. The trip back was pretty uneventful since they actually slept through most of it.

Things I learned (that I should have already known):

It's very very important to ensure that you choose the correct restroom. Look closely and make sure it says "Men's". The second half of this piece of advice may not apply to everyone.
There is no situation where a five-year-old will volunteer to go to the bathroom. You stand a 50/50 chance if you prompt them and ask, but if you don't ask they will leave a building with a bathroom only to require an emergency stop 5 minutes later. There is also a good chance that this will happen while halfway up a mountain with no stops for 20 minutes.
No matter how funny you may think it is to be asked "Are we there yet?" it will be asked a number of times greater than the number you think funny.
Five-year-olds do not necessarily have a firm grasp on interrogatives. Thus the baffling question "How many times until we're there?" actually means "Are we there yet?" However, surprisingly, an integer answer is an acceptable one in this situation, as Leesa discovered, so long as it continues to decrease over the course of the trip.
There is a limit to how much banjo music a person can listen to. This limit is 3 minutes.
It is entirely possible to be drunk even in a dry city but it requires a great deal of banjo music.
Despite the presence of a bathroom nearby and presumably a hotel room, some people will unabashedly change their child's diaper ON an air hockey table.
It is possible, if not necessarily advisable, to eat McDonald's twice in two days.
I'm sure that the Great Smoky Mountains are a national treasure and whatever, but seriously, just one big cell tower right on top of a mountain would do wonders for the place.
My wife is a wonderful person and an eternal optimist.

Easter Basket Fail

Kevin — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:33:14 GMT

see more Fail Blog

Lileks on Back to School

Kevin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:40:04 GMT

James Lileks

After I dropped off the other kids Natalie and I went to Target to get supplies for the Fourth. Evil SWINE and DESPOILERS OF SUMMER: they put up the school supplies before the Fourth. GAH. Summer has been shoved off to a few aisles like last year’s fashions. No one likes this. No one wants this. No one will be banging on the door a minute after closing time tomorrow to demand admittance because they need a plastic pencil box now. You cannot sell fireworks, watermelons, backpacks and pencils in the same store in July; they should repel one another and be hurled to all four corners of the store. Well, we’ll never try that again. Someone call the Pentagon and tell them we’ve discovered a new elemental force that could possibly be weaponized. Honest to God, Natalie’s face was drained of color when she saw the displays. Noooooo!

If I’d had a bottle of lemonade in my hand I would have walked around like Max Von Sydow, sprinkling consecrated liquid to sear the demon. I cast you out! Begone, erasers asleep in your plastic blisters! Away, spiral-bound notebooks emblazoned with licensed tween idols! The power of July compels you! The power of July compels you!

Seriously, there should be a law against it. I remember very clearly the sense of dread that accompanied the first sight of "Back to School" sales and it seems like they start earlier every year. Early July is just cruel, heck in my early days of elementary school, we didn't even get OUT of school until late June or so.

Auto-Tune the News

Kevin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:08:21 GMT

(via @feliciaday)

> > >

On Celebrity Deaths

Kevin — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:25:45 GMT

We've all gone crazy: mourning all day and mourning all night
Falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right.

I don't get it. Perhaps I'm just a heartless bastard, but I don't understand all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth when a celebrity dies. I understand the lurid, sensational interest of the tabloids and the 24-hour news programs that have to fill it with something. You can just see in their eyes that Christmas has come early with the recent celebrity deaths. And that, while repellant, is comprehendible.

What I can't empathize with is the people setting up memorials for the fallen celebrities - crying their eyes out on national television that this person has died. It doesn't matter which one I'm referring to - this has happened for as long as I can remember. A handy example from the past is Princess Diana. People who have never met the deceased are suddenly struck down as if a close friend had died. Are they all hypersensitive, histrionic nut jobs who easily surrender to the more maudlin sides of their personalities? Am I just a jerk for not feeling anything when they die? I, of course, love them as I am commanded to by the Lord, and feel some pity for their families and passing concern about their souls, but that's really it. Otherwise I don't really care and it doesn't affect my daily life in the least.

There is undeniably a streak of idolatry in this country when it comes to celebrities, and it would be easy to attribute this phenomenon to that. Perhaps people feel as if they really know this person that they've never met and identify with them (see also this rather on-point article from The Onion). It could be that, having vicariously latched onto someone that it's especially hard, emotionally, when they die.

I don't know, is it just me?

Join the discussion

Forums

Kevin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:34:08 GMT

Experimenting with a forum linked to the site (for further discussion). It can be found at http://forums.smilingkevin.com for the interested.