OlDawg

Our political situation is like 2 drunks in a car. You pull the car over, make the drunk that's driving give up their keys, and the only person left to drive is another drunk. The only question is which way the car's gonna' swerve.

SLC got some pretty favorable calls late as well. At least, they seemed questionable to me.

Another late game collapse. Been happening a lot this year.

Saw that. 🤣

Ha! I was wrong. Eagles just ran yard for a TD!

SLC missed on 4th & 2 from the 2 with 4 seconds left. DeSoto wins 51-44!

51-44 DeSoto 2:00 left in 4th SLC just blocked a punt, has ball & driving.

Maryland with another NS TD!

Ha! Switching between DeSoto/SLC & NS/LT. Both good games so far.

Great season PAM!

Welp… I was wrong. I thought this would be the final score. I don’t see a scoreless 4th. Let’s go PAM!

By the way, the 'super-duper subsidies' we were provided? Right at $16,000. So, a premium of $3400/mo. with a $1300/mo. tax credit--which will be less for this year. Works out to roughly $25,000/yr. with a $4400/deductible. Almost $30,000/year. Social Security won’t even cover medical.

The issue with this proposal--among many others--is that many people in the 60-64 year age range are retired either through choice, or otherwise, and HSA's are currently only available to people working and able to purchase a HDHP. If you can't open an HSA, there's no help. But, you're still stuck with the premiums and deductibles of ACA. Insurance for just my wife and I (both in the stated age range) will be $3409./mo. with a $4400 deductible in 2026. That's $45,000 a year for premiums and deductibles. Only one plan in all of GHA coverage area offers care at Houston Methodist where my wife receives care for her Parkinson's Plus. It's actually a non-profit run by the Harris County Health Dept., and it still costs that much. There are no other options that cover pre-existing conditions, and HM availability. A tax credit of some type would be a better option while the whole system is revamped. If people are on Social Security, it could help reduce income taxes. If people are living on their own savings and investments, it could also help reduce income/capital gain taxes. But, don’t pay the insurance companies directly. You would have to have the credit given off prior year’s income, and allow a specific type savings account the credit could be deposited into tax free for future premiums. Right now, HSA’s can’t be used for premiums. ACA was never about healthcare. It was always a ruse to move towards single payer. Democrats wanted control over our healthcare just like they want control over every other aspect of our lives.

Right now, he has Pasadena & HISD lumped together in 9-5A D1.

I didn’t look at Pasadena schools. I’d have to look again. The travel distance in miles is one thing. Traveling from La Porte to Katy (which I did before retirement), and from La Porte to Richmond/Ft. Bend area is a different type challenge. It’s not always about miles. It’s an easy 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive in just ‘normal’ traffic, and that’s even taking 99 around. Worse on 10. The point was, the mock looks like just the left over teams in 5A D1 who didn’t fit anywhere else. It’s definitely a district with some solid teams.

Katy Freeman, Galveston Ball, Angleton, Richmond Randle, Houston Northbrook, FB Dulles, FB Bush, and Friendswood. I think that’s them. (Including La Porte, of course.)

If 10-5A D1 does shake out as DCTX shows, would it still be in SETX coverage area because of La Porte?

10-5A D1 looks like spread out leftovers. Ha! From one side of Harris County to the other (Katy Freeman & La Porte), to Brazoria County (Angleton), to Galveston County (Galveston Ball).

Stop the direct subsidies to the insurance companies. Enforce a cost transparency law. Let people shop for plans without restriction, and separate prescription coverage into stand-alone policies. The cost transparency is big. But, it will never be perfect. There’s no way someone is going to check prices when they’re in the middle of a medical emergency. Plus, extra procedures—that a patient has no idea about—are often ordered with no real transparency, and they’re in no shape mentally or physically to decide need. This is the big, tough one. But, for the vast majority, cost transparency should be required for all plans. A database of searchable costs should be available to the insured/prospective insured. High deductible plans should be available to all as a choice. Pre-existing condition coverage should be the law. Nothing wrong with making the insurance marketplace similar to Medicare as to the programs offered. Medicare has a separate prescription plan. It’s known that’s usually the highest portion of the cost. Make a ‘Part D’ option for the Marketplace, and remove it from the base policy. There are probably many insurance companies willing to compete just for prescription insurance policies—just like separate dental. Just some of my thoughts.

We used to call them ‘ghost ships.’ They’d turn their transponders off to be able to avoid detection, load & unload whatever their cargo at night, and take atypical routes to avoid other traffic. It’s a big ocean. Hard to find even a large tanker all by itself, unless you catch it in port & follow via satellite.

This is exactly why you want originalists in the Court vs. liberal revisionists. Originalists interpret intent & principles that apply across the decades. Those who say the Constitution is a ‘living document’ are full of it. Free speech (1st Amendment), right to bear arms (2nd), illegal search (4th), etc. principles remain the same as original intent whether the Framers knew about social media, specific firearms or not. Same with the other bedrock principles. The principles remain the same, and are just applied to current. Anything above that, and judges aren’t interpreting—which is their charge. They’re legislating. Which isn’t their arena.

Just razzing ya’. We knew what you meant.

El perro es un buen jugador de futbol. Fifi juega para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA. 😁

I think you can’t spell acronyms very well.

Going between La Porte & Beaumont, Port Arthur, Port Neches, Nederland, etc. isn't a bad drive as long as I-10 isn't messed up. Any further west or south of La Porte gets to be a mess as you get into more of the metro congestion. La Porte is kind of the end of the road on the east side before the metro-mess. Just don't let @Big Daddy Cool drive, or who knows where you'll wind up. Louisiana is a good bet.