Chet Collins

Biden Budget Plan Would Remove Ban on Federal Funds for Abortion - WSJ

The president’s budget, released Friday, doesn’t include the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for abortion

Unity!

While this marked the first time in decades that a president sought to strip the language, the change wasn’t highlighted in a budget fact sheet released by the White House.

Normalcy!

Amazon and Walmart Have an Rx for Healthcare. The Cure Won’t Be Easy. - WSJ

Artificially high costs are passed on to patients, employers and taxpayers in the form of higher premiums and deductibles. And because many Americans get insurance via their employer, those who are dissatisfied with their plan might need to change jobs to get a better one.

This is the most poorly researched paragraph I’ve read in a very long time.

“Almost 30% of the time, patients would save money by paying cash instead of using their insurance. The fact that this is ever the case tells you how messed up the current system really is,” says Zach Reitano, CEO of the cash-pay healthcare startup Ro.

Nice analysis of bias there, btw. Zach, the CEO of a cash-pay start-up thinks health insurance is messed up.

The “messed up” part of the current system is that people buy insurance to cover basic services that they should pay for out of pocket. It’s like buying a warranty on your car that covers oil changes, tire rotations, and air filters. Of course it’s going to be expensive and inefficient! Health insurance should cover major, catastrophic events.

It’s a Travesty to Compare the Capitol Siege to 9/11 - WSJ Opinion

We are living in perilous times. When a modern democracy deploys forces of intimidation—whether government, corporate media or cultural institutions—to promote the ruling majority’s propaganda, it is time for good people to stand up and object. The world-changing attack of Sept. 11, 2001 shouldn’t be used, either as precedent or moral authority, to create a commission whose sole purpose is to turn a straightforward law-enforcement failure into destructive political theater.

Facebook Now Banning Anyone Who Says Virus Wasn’t Created In Wuhan Lab - The Babylon Bee

Mark Zuckerberg, may he live forever, announced the change from his royal throne today to a group of reporters gathered in his royal throne room.

This total reversal is one of the more amusing events of the Spring.

Apple Watch Series 3 Owners Now Required to Perform Restore When Updating Due to Storage Constraints - MacRumors

Apple Watch Series 3 owners who update their devices to a new version of watchOS are prompted to unpair and re-pair the Apple Watch from the iPhone during the update process because of storage space constraints.

It just works! You can walk into a store and buy one new today, btw.

U.S. Won’t Rejoin Open Skies Treaty With Russia - WSJ

The Biden administration has decided not to rejoin the Open Skies agreement with Russia after concluding that Russian violations of the deal and failure to take action to return to compliance undermined the pact

Well, well, well…

The Proxy Coup at Exxon - WSJ Opinion

Liberals in wealthy countries including the U.S. want to ban the internal-combustion engine. But Nigeria’s poor won’t be buying Teslas.

Neither will America’s poor and middle class.

Dr. Fauci Gets In Heated Debate With Seventeen Previous Versions Of Himself - The Babylon Bee

“The virus was created in a lab!” present-day Fauci said indignantly, causing past Fauci to wag his finger and shake his head emphatically.

“No, no, no, that’s a deranged conspiracy theory!” past Fauci said. “It’s practically alt-right! Didn’t you check Snopes? Anyway, at least we can agree we should wear double masks forever.”

“No, masks aren’t necessary anymore!” said current Fauci. “We just wear them for political theater.”

“That’s insulting! They’re absolutely not theater!” said early May Fauci.

New Amazon Bond Film Will Feature 007 Assassinating Small Business Owners - The Babylon Bee

The franchise will also do away with “Q,” from whom Bond usually gets all his cool gadgets. Instead, he will order his spy tools on Amazon Prime to be delivered by drone, in scenes that will feature heavy product placement for Amazon’s new Prime Plus service.

An excellent article from start to finish.

The Virus Lab Theory’s New Credibility - WSJ Opinion

The public-health clerisy also set boundaries for allowable discussion. On Feb. 19, 2020, the Lancet published a statement by scientists condemning “conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.”

Democrats Are the Anticrime Party - WSJ Opinion

I couldn’t find a pull quote for this article. It is so off-base as to be laughable.

The Trump Administration was no saint, but to attempt to conflate the massive uptick in violent crime in US cities in 2020 with Trump’s behavior is like comparing apples and Abrams tanks.

Kudos to Paul and the Opinion pages for continuing to print third party op-eds that they don’t agree with in the interest of furthering conversation.

These Apple App Store privacy labels are super useful.

Ban Cryptocurrency to Fight Ransomware - WSJ

It is no coincidence that ransomware attacks exploded with the emergence of cryptocurrency.

I agree with this idea.

I understand the necessity of check holds.

But when a customer you’ve personally known for 2 years brings you a check from a national business, what are the real odds of it being fraudulent?

The Leatherman Free series is amazing.

Old faithful.

Maybe we should go on vacation to Robot City. Looks friendly enough!

Rebellion in the Faculty Lounge - WSJ

The academic world has become increasingly disconnected from the applied world

Understatement of the millennium.

Saw my first firefly of the season this evening.

Overheard while wife dictates notes,

”His knee has been acting up recently. It has been that way ever since he fell out of a deer stand…”

That’s rural medicine for you.

Apple Shares New ‘Tracked’ Ad With Humorous Real-World Analogy of App Tracking Transparency - MacRumors

This is an incredible ad.

House Passes Bill Funding Security Enhancements at Capitol by One Vote - WSJ

The families of the late Reps. Ron Wright (R., Texas) and Alcee L. Hastings (D., Fla.) would get $348,000 in death gratuities if the bill became law. Neither congressman died in connection with Jan. 6, but such payments are customary to the families of Congress members who died in office.

Why are the taxpayers acting like a life insurance company for a certain class of federal officials who die in office?

I’ve never heard of such a thing. But that price tag…

Luke Skywalker Condemned For Blowing Up Associated Press Office Located On Death Star - The Babylon Bee

Footage of journalists frantically evacuating was quickly broadcast on Imperial channels around the galaxy to garner sympathy for the reporters and turn the public against the rebels.

Callous.