Affordable Care Act Upheld

29 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 29th,2012 | Healthcare, Politics |  Comments Off

Yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court upholding most of the Affordable Care Act was a momentous one. Legal precedent wise, the number of opinions, and which Justice signed on to what, is a much murkier bag. For precedent purposes, it is going to take some time to parse exactly what this ruling means. It may or may not be a win for Democrats. It may or may not be a loss for Republicans.

But for those people who, as a friend put it yesterday, just want the option of being able to pay for insurance, it is a major win.

Today is THE DAY (Court Watching Day 3)

28 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 28th,2012 | Healthcare, Politics |  Comments Off

Today is THE BIG DAY in Court watching. It’s the day the Supreme Court will announce it’s ruling on the healthcare bill. I see reports everywhere that lots of people want it struck down as unconstitutional. I want to ask those people if they think a pre-existing condition should be a barrier to insurance. Or if college students (who are unlikely to be able to get health insurance through a job) should be forced off their parents’ insurance? People like those provisions. They don’t like the individual mandate. Today we find out if all, none, or some of it goes.

Court Watching Day 2

27 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 27th,2012 | Politics |  Comments Off

Let’s talk about the Montana case. This is not a case the Court heard. Basically, every branch of theMontana state government said that there has been corruption onMontana politics based on money, so they were rejecting the decision handed down in Citizen’s United, and would not allow unlimited corporate spending in state elections. The Supreme Court struck downMontana’s ruling in a 5-4 decision. Even though the 4 could have forced a full hearing, they didn’t. Theory is they do not want to run the risk, especially in an election year, of the other 5 expanding Citizen’s United.

 

Court Watching Week!

26 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 26th,2012 | Discrimination, Politics, Racism |  Comments Off

It’s that time of year- Court watching season, when the Supreme Court finally tells us their verdicts for the cases they have heard in the past year. A couple decisions came out last week. I am not anti-union, but I do agree with the SEIU verdict that non-union members, working in union represented positions, should not be forced to pay for union political activities.

Big deal yesterday was the Arizona Immigration law. Most of it was struck down. One part was left, but with basically a note that said- we expect to strike this down later after you abuse it.

#MythBusters: Bug Special

25 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 25th,2012 | Mythbusters, Science, Television |  Comments Off

No new content in last night’s Bug Special. I don’t mind that they sometimes group similar type myths into themed specials. They did that last week, too, though last week there was also plenty of new content. I do wish, when they did these theme shows, if they aren’t going to show us a new myth, that maybe they show us some additional content on each myth- maybe a minute or two of footage that for each myth that had previously been on the cutting room floor. That way there is something for those of us who watch every episode.

Movie Review: Legion

24 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 24th,2012 | Movies |  Comments Off

I wanted to like Legion- I mean, an apocalypse movie with angel vs angels, starring Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid -definitely the kind of film that we enjoy in our house. As a writer I know there are only so many stories out there, but did they really need to steal the exact plot from Terminator?

And really, given that the apocalypse mostly just resulted in a lot of deaths, what was the darkness that the baby was going to need to lead them out of?

I liked the actors. I liked the concept. The execution, however, was just poor.

Blog Feature: 2 Punk Dogs with appearances by 4 cool cats

23 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 23rd,2012 | blogging, Dogs, Pets, Writing |  Comments Off

June is Adopt a Shelter Cat month. I can’t get a cat because of C’s allergies and the fact that I have two fairly high prey drive dogs. But if I could get a cat, I would totally adopt an older cat from a shelter. Why an older cat? Pretty much for all the reasons spelled out in Older Cats Rock! over at 2 Punk Dogs with appearances by 4 cool cats.

I love the humor of this blog, and the pictures, and that they manage to have cats even while having 2 punk terriers. If they can do it…

Your Money Friday: The “Holy Crap” Bill

22 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 22nd,2012 | Finances |  Comments Off

Have you ever had a bill that made you go “holy crap”? Even if you knew it was going to be expensive, but you hadn’t realized how expensive? Perhaps it was your first winter heating bill or your first summer AC bill in a new place. Maybe it was a vet appointment for your dogs, or what you thought was a routine repair on your car.

We have all had them- even people who are prepared with house, car, pet, and emergency funds. This week’s YM thread is about commiserating over those bills that surprised the heck out of us.

Movie Review: Zombieland

21 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 21st,2012 | Movies |  Comments Off

Let me start by saying that I am not the target audience for Zombieland. I don’t like horror films. I don’t watch zombie movies. We watched this one because it was billed more as a comedy than a zombie movie. But as a comedy, it was only so-so. As an action movie, it was only so-so. As an action comedy, it just kind of fell flat- not as much comedy or action as I would have liked. The interlude with Bill Murray ended in a wholly predictable manner (a manner that the characters should have been able to predict, too).

Movie Review: Goon

20 Jun

Erin Shanendoah |  June 20th,2012 | Hockey, Movies |  Comments Off

I admit it. I loved Goon. Sean William Scott is one of my favorite young actors, and this role was just perfect for him. Allison Pill was adorable. Jay Baruchel was having fun. Liev Schreiber was also great, but honestly, my favorite bit of casting was Kim Coates as the coach.

This was a fun hockey movie, examining the role we all associate with hockey but rarely make movies about- the goon, the enforcer, the guy whose sole job is to give and take hits, give and take punches, to protect his more skilled teammates from those hits and punches.

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