The New Pornographers - Use It
LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk is Playing At My House
Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Beck - Time Bomb
Janelle Monae - Faster
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - When we Swam
Brendan Benson - Feel Like Taking You Home Now
Kanye West - Touch the Sky (feat. Lupe Fiasco)
Blondie - Atomic
The Avett Brothers - Go to Sleep
The Avett Brothers - Kick Drum Heart
White Rabbits - Percussion Gun
Nic Armstrong & The Thieves - I Can't Stand It
The Pixies - Debaser
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
The Raconteurs - Yellow Sun
Franka Potente - Believe
Steve Earle - I Feel Alright
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Know Better Learn Faster
Apples in Stereo - Can You Feel It?
Edwin Starr - Twenty Five Miles
Hall and Oates - You Make My Dreams
Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.
Brendon Benson - Poised and Ready
Monday, December 12, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Natural Disaster Songs
Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurricane
Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
Presidents of the United States of America - Volcano
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Drive-By Truckers - Tornado
Jars of Clay - Flood (Is this actually Supernatural Disaster?)
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Honorable mention to The Legendary KO's Kanye remix "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People", since that's Katrina-based
Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
Presidents of the United States of America - Volcano
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Drive-By Truckers - Tornado
Jars of Clay - Flood (Is this actually Supernatural Disaster?)
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Honorable mention to The Legendary KO's Kanye remix "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People", since that's Katrina-based
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Healthcare!
Anyone that's talked to me about the economy has probably heard me namedrop the Planet Money podcast. For those unfamiliar, it's a fantastic podcast from NPR that spun off of This American Life which breaks down complex economic issues into something understandable, relatable, and usually interesting. They recently had a live episode in which they listed three important factors to fixing the economy, one of which is revising healthcare to stop being employer based. This is a very interesting idea which I wish to ramble about now.
Employer-based healthcare started in Dallas in 1929 when a group of teacher organized a plan through Baylor University Hospital to provide the collective group a collective 21 days of hospital time for $6 each, with pregnancy in particular in mind. This idea grew in popularity and eventually led to Blue Cross. The idea of employer-sponsored insurance grew immensely during World War II when there was a shortage of workers and the government put a cap on wages. This forced employers to come up with more creative ways to compete for the scarce employees, leading to an increase in fringe benefits, particularly insurance.
So why is it so bad now? From the liberal point of view, because it's so mainstream, it kills most momentum for expansion of state-sponsored healthcare. Most people have insurance through their employer, so the unemployed are often left uninsured. Even worse, it's still rather common for the lowest-tiered workers to not receive the "fringe" benefits such as insurance or paid time off. There are options such as Medicaid, COBRA, and individual insurance, but they all have problems. Medicaid is typically only available to the lowest levels of poverty. COBRA helps bridge gaps in unemployment, but employees will lose the employer contributions, making the insurance prohibitively expensive for the unemployed. And without the negotiating power of a large group, individual insurance tends to be either extraordinarily expensive or offer very little coverage (or both). In short, if you're not in a decent job, you're screwed.
But there's a reason for conservatives to hate employer-based insurance - it ruins the entire logic behind the free market. Because of employer contributions and group plans, most Americans only ever really look at the insurance plan offered through their job. There is no REAL choice, because why pay for something that you're paying only 30%, 20%, or maybe even nothing for? Most Americans don't know the cost of their insurance, and because they don't really think about it until they're needed, most also don't know the cost of health services. Do you know your current premium? Your employer contribution? How about deductibles, co-pays, and what percentage your insurer pays on what procedures? How many have ever called up multiple physicians to check the cost of procedures before having them done? These are the kinds of things the free market relies on, and these are the kinds of things the healthcare system in general and the employer-based healthcare specifically obscures. On top of all that, it's made insurance and its administration a required cost for nearly every employer. It stands to reason that if that cost were removed from businesses, it would allow for higher wages which would in turn allow for an alternative to employer-based insurance.
There are a few potential flaws in moving away from this. Most importantly, there has to be an alternative. The obvious choice would be a system like France's, which is remarkably less socialist than other countries like England or Canada. That's more than I would care to get into at the moment. The other big flaw is the assumption that doing away with the benefit would result in equally higher wages, especially in the current environment. I don't really have the answer for that - clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.
That's enough words for now.
Employer-based healthcare started in Dallas in 1929 when a group of teacher organized a plan through Baylor University Hospital to provide the collective group a collective 21 days of hospital time for $6 each, with pregnancy in particular in mind. This idea grew in popularity and eventually led to Blue Cross. The idea of employer-sponsored insurance grew immensely during World War II when there was a shortage of workers and the government put a cap on wages. This forced employers to come up with more creative ways to compete for the scarce employees, leading to an increase in fringe benefits, particularly insurance.
So why is it so bad now? From the liberal point of view, because it's so mainstream, it kills most momentum for expansion of state-sponsored healthcare. Most people have insurance through their employer, so the unemployed are often left uninsured. Even worse, it's still rather common for the lowest-tiered workers to not receive the "fringe" benefits such as insurance or paid time off. There are options such as Medicaid, COBRA, and individual insurance, but they all have problems. Medicaid is typically only available to the lowest levels of poverty. COBRA helps bridge gaps in unemployment, but employees will lose the employer contributions, making the insurance prohibitively expensive for the unemployed. And without the negotiating power of a large group, individual insurance tends to be either extraordinarily expensive or offer very little coverage (or both). In short, if you're not in a decent job, you're screwed.
But there's a reason for conservatives to hate employer-based insurance - it ruins the entire logic behind the free market. Because of employer contributions and group plans, most Americans only ever really look at the insurance plan offered through their job. There is no REAL choice, because why pay for something that you're paying only 30%, 20%, or maybe even nothing for? Most Americans don't know the cost of their insurance, and because they don't really think about it until they're needed, most also don't know the cost of health services. Do you know your current premium? Your employer contribution? How about deductibles, co-pays, and what percentage your insurer pays on what procedures? How many have ever called up multiple physicians to check the cost of procedures before having them done? These are the kinds of things the free market relies on, and these are the kinds of things the healthcare system in general and the employer-based healthcare specifically obscures. On top of all that, it's made insurance and its administration a required cost for nearly every employer. It stands to reason that if that cost were removed from businesses, it would allow for higher wages which would in turn allow for an alternative to employer-based insurance.
There are a few potential flaws in moving away from this. Most importantly, there has to be an alternative. The obvious choice would be a system like France's, which is remarkably less socialist than other countries like England or Canada. That's more than I would care to get into at the moment. The other big flaw is the assumption that doing away with the benefit would result in equally higher wages, especially in the current environment. I don't really have the answer for that - clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.
That's enough words for now.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
RELAX
Mika - Relax, Take it Easy
Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax (or Dandy Warhols cover)
Hellogoodbye - I can never Relax
G. Love and the Special Sauce - Relax
Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax (or Dandy Warhols cover)
Hellogoodbye - I can never Relax
G. Love and the Special Sauce - Relax
Monday, May 23, 2011
Yr spelling it wrng
Elton John - Yr song?
1. M. Ward - I'll be yr bird
2. Spoon - You got yr Cherry Bomb
3. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
4. LCD Soundsystem - Yr City's a sucker
5. Cornershop -We're in yr corner
6. Sonic Youth - Kill yr idols
7. Le Tigre - What's yr take on cassavettes
8. Le Tigre - Dude. Yr so crazy
9. Led Zeppelin - Bron-yr-aur (this is actually a different Yr)
1. M. Ward - I'll be yr bird
2. Spoon - You got yr Cherry Bomb
3. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
4. LCD Soundsystem - Yr City's a sucker
5. Cornershop -We're in yr corner
6. Sonic Youth - Kill yr idols
7. Le Tigre - What's yr take on cassavettes
8. Le Tigre - Dude. Yr so crazy
9. Led Zeppelin - Bron-yr-aur (this is actually a different Yr)
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Self-Titled
Songs which share the name of the band playing them and the album they are on:
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Big Country - Big Country - Big Country
Bad Company - Bad Company - Bad Company
Stray Cats - Stray Cats - Stray Cat Strut
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Wilco - Wilco (The Album) - Wilco (The Song)
Sorry They Might Be Giants, but your album was Flood.
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Big Country - Big Country - Big Country
Bad Company - Bad Company - Bad Company
Stray Cats - Stray Cats - Stray Cat Strut
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Wilco - Wilco (The Album) - Wilco (The Song)
Sorry They Might Be Giants, but your album was Flood.
Monday, January 17, 2011
SPELLING
A very hard-fought 3rd place at Spelling tonight.
1. camel
2. risotto
3. garcon
4. zarzuella
5. Zygapophyseal (missed it, everyone else missed theirs)
6. cassowary (missed it, playing for second place. SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THIS)
7. nystagmus (nailed it)
8. dysmenorrhea (missed it, forgot the O and realized it immediately)
Still got the bonus tootsie roll pop, and a bonus present from Good Korea courtesy of Bri. It matches my new jacket!
1. camel
2. risotto
3. garcon
4. zarzuella
5. Zygapophyseal (missed it, everyone else missed theirs)
6. cassowary (missed it, playing for second place. SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THIS)
7. nystagmus (nailed it)
8. dysmenorrhea (missed it, forgot the O and realized it immediately)
Still got the bonus tootsie roll pop, and a bonus present from Good Korea courtesy of Bri. It matches my new jacket!
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