Date: 2008-10-07 12:13 Subject: On the topic of healthcare... Security: Public

If you look at nothing else in this presidential race, take a good look at the candidates' proposals for health care.

McCain wants to tax the health care benefits you receive from your employer, if you're lucky enough to have one. Sure, McCain says that he'd offer you a tax credit to help offset the cost, but that credit in no way comes close to what you'd actually have to pay in premiums for an individual insurance policy -- if you can even get one on your own.  If you have a pre-existing condition, you'd be S.O.L., because no insurance company would want to write you a policy. (They only make money by offering insurance to people who don't need it.)

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/opinion/06krugman.html :
"The McCain plan would do for health care what deregulation has done for banking."

Date: 2008-10-07 17:04 Subject: Not completely incommunicado... Security: Public

I realize I haven't posted much lately, but I've been traveling, recovering from traveling, and working on a couple of new projects. One of those new projects is writing television reviews for Firefox News. Feel free to browse the site, which is full of "news, reviews and articles by writers who can legitimately be considered 'part of fandom.'"

I will be covering two series for Firefox news. One is the CBS crime drama "NCIS". My first two reviews are linked here:

• NCIS Season 6, Episode 1: Last Man Standing
• NCIS Season 6, Episode 2: Agent Afloat

I will also be reviewing "Life of Mars", which is an Americanized version of a really great British series. Let's hope ABC doesn't dumb it down or screw it up. "LOM" premieres Thursday on ABC.