News and Views

A few months ago Gisele and I signed up for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Global Entry program. On our recent trip to Taiwan we were able to use some of the benefits. Global Entry is a program US citizens can apply for, where the CBP does a background check on the applicant, […]

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Here’s a picture of the keypad in the elevator in my hotel. What’s wrong? Why?

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I have traveled in Muslim countries before and I’m used to seeing women covering their hair as a matter of modesty. But sometimes when I see a women here with her hair all covered up in typical Muslim head covering, the thought passes through my mind, “Why don’t they just go with the local custom […]

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I’ve been trying to apply for health insurance on the Federal Exchange (which Arizona uses) since it went online. It’s been a struggle! The website is buggy and not ready for the usage it has been seeing. My big problem was that I started an application for just myself, and then after getting part way […]

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There was a good Frontline program on last night with the same title as this post about brain damage in NFL players. The evidence seems very conclusive that playing football at any level (NFL, college, high school, and even younger) can and will cause brain damage in almost every player. The damage seems to be […]

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I think a very important and relevant point that isn’t being discussed enough is that the House simply refuses to even bring to a vote a simple “clean” continuing resolution on the budget. The House sent a few bills to the Senate that included defunding or delaying Obamacare. The Senate stripped out the Obamacare parts, […]

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The Kaiser Foundation recently completed a poll of Americans on the Affordable Care Act. The findings are interesting. 43% of those polled had an unfavorable impression of the law (vs. 39% favorable), but just 35% think opponents of the law should continue their efforts to repeal the law or keep it from being implemented. But […]

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I got a phone call the other night that symbolizes how poll results can be misleading. The automated poll asked me two questions: 1) “Are you aware that the Affordable Care Act will raise your insurance costs?” 2) “Do you support the Affordable Care Act?” The pollsters were obviously trying to prime the result of […]

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I recently read a very interesting book, “The Measure of a Nation“. The author compared the United States to thirteen other large, developed democracies (Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Netherlands, Korea, Spain, and the UK) on several factors, including health, wealth, crime, education, equality, freedom and democracy. There is a general […]

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In 2004 Amanda Berry’s mother asked Sylvia Browne for news about Amanda. Sylvia said “She’s not alive honey.” Her mother died a year later from heart failure, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the shock and disappointment hastened that end. Similarly, in 2004 Browne told the parents of missing child Shawn Hornbeck that their child […]

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