THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† Look Before You Leap: Part II: Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) signed an "informed consent" law that mandates a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed, and requires the abortionist to disclose the risks and alternatives, as well as “the fetus' probable characteristics,” reports The Associated Press. A parental notification law already on the books has also been strengthened, and pharmacists and other health care providers may now refuse to dispense emergency contraception on moral or religious grounds. Brewer also signed another law prohibiting partial birth abortion, except when the mother’s life is in danger – and doctors who violate the law will have to convince a state regulatory board that the abortion saved the mother’s life or face a two-year prison term. Brewer’s predecessor, Janet Napolitano, vetoed any bill that placed restrictions on abortion.
† Do You Swear To Tell The PC Truth, The Censored Truth And Nothing But The Truth That Will Set The Defendant Free?: U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes ruled that prosecutors are not allowed to use the word “polygamy” during the trial of evangelist Tony Alamo, who has been indicted on 10 counts of taking young girls across state lines for sex, reports The Associated Press:
Alamo is accused of marrying multiple women in his ministry. Prosecutors say Alamo's alleged victims received wedding rings and exchanged vows with the 74-year-old. …
Since establishing the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in Arkansas, Alamo has been a controversial and flamboyant figure. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, describes the ministry as a cult that rails against homosexuals, Roman Catholics and the government.
† Michael Jackson: The Greatest Entertainer Money-Maker Of All Time? (second item): Michael Jackson may not be the greatest entertainer of all time, if the yardstick is album sales, reports The Wall Street Journal:
In the last three years of his life, long after the release of his final original album, Michael Jackson's career album sales took a curious leap.
For many years, Mr. Jackson's lifetime sales tally typically was reported at 200 million albums world-wide. But in late 2006, news articles began putting the number at 750 million, a figure that became part of the popular lore as Mr. Jackson was attempting a comeback. In the last few weeks, it has popped up in obituaries and retrospectives.
So how did the sales figure nearly quadruple? A likely explanation is that a rough tally of individual songs was misinterpreted or misrepresented to reflect album sales.
Such a numerical misstep is surprisingly easy to make in the world of album sales figures, where reliable information is spotty in the U.S., and often nonexistent overseas.
With so little hard data made available by the recording industry, amateur music-data trackers have stepped in to try to fill the void. These sleuths dig through certifications, SoundScan figures and other sources to compile sales by album and artist.
According to such estimates, Jackson sold 131.5 million to 205.5 million albums world-wide.
† Updates To Previous Posts (sixth item, There's No Such Thing As Free Healthcare): MA - which Congress is looking to as a model for universal health coverage - is cutting health care coverage for 30,000 legal immigrants to help close a yawning deficit, reports The New York Times:
The affected immigrants, permanent residents who have had green cards for less than five years, are now covered under Commonwealth Care, a subsidized insurance program for low-income residents that is central to the groundbreaking health care law enacted here in 2006.
Critics of the cut, which would save an estimated $130 million, say it unfairly targets taxpaying residents and threatens the state’s health care experiment at a critical time. …
Enrollment in Commonwealth Care has risen sharply in recent months, to 181,000, as more people have lost jobs. …
In addition to dropping the immigrant insurance program, Commonwealth Care will save an estimated $63 million by no longer automatically enrolling low-income residents who fail to enroll themselves.
Philip W. Johnston, chairman of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation and a former state secretary of health and human services has a solution to the problem: an income tax surcharge on the rich, “otherwise, the program is going to be subject to the ups and downs of the economy forever.”
Yeah, and bleeding your most productive citizens will force them to move elsewhere, ensuring that the MA economy has more downs than ups.
† Updates To Previous Posts (Living In These Mad, Mad, Madoff Times): Convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff began serving his 150-year sentence at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in NC. With time off for good behavior, Madoff’s projected release date is November 14, 2139, reports The Associated Press. A box turtle, carp and parrot born today will die 27 years, 50 years and 70 years, respectively, before Madoff's sentence is up. On the other hand, a bowhead whale will still have 50 years left in its lifespan; a Quahog clam will have 250 years left to do whatever it is a clam does; and a giant sequoia will be around 4,000 years after everyone has forgotten who Madoff is and what he did.
Comments